Allies
by Freelancer21
Summary: Sydney and Vaughn meet back in the SD-6 days, but not the same way they did on the show. To destroy the Alliance, they become allies… and more?
1. Chapter 1

Title: Allies (S/V meet back in the SD-6 days…)

Author: Jenn (Freelancer21)

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters! J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot and ABC own them.

Summary: Sydney and Vaughn meet back in the SD-6 days, but not the same way they did on the show. To destroy the Alliance, they become allies… and more?

Chapter 1

"Here's a little something for you, agent Weiss!" Vaughn announced when he arrived in front of Eric's desk.

Staring at his friend incredulously, Weiss replied:

"Mike, you're bringing me a coffee AND a donut? You're always telling me I eat too many of those!"

"Well, today is special," Vaughn answered with a big grin.

"Why is that?" Weiss wondered.

Vaughn's smile got even wider.

"I got promoted. Meet Michael Vaughn, senior officer."

"What? That's great! Did Devlin say why he finally decided to promote you?" Eric exclaimed, obviously thrilled with the news.

Vaughn took time to sit down in front of his friend's desk before answering.

"Well, apparently, he really did like the way I handled the Santoro case. And now guess what my new assignment is?"

The twinkle in Vaughn's eyes said it all.

"Nooooo…" Weiss said, his eyes wide open.

Vaughn nodded.

"Yes! I'll be working with you to destroy the Alliance!"

Eric jumped on his feet and started to make his little "happy dance", as he called it, attracting curious stares from his CIA co-workers.

"This calls for a celebration! You, me and the guys at the bar, as soon as Devlin lets us go!"

But Vaughn shook his head.

"Sorry, I'm going to have to take a rain check on this. Alice's parents are in town and we are having dinner with them," Vaughn explained, knowing full well his friend would not be happy about the news. He strongly suspected that Eric didn't really like Alice, or at least didn't think they should be together. In fact, Vaughn had his own doubts about the relationship, but he figured that was the way it was when you had been with someone a long time. He and Alice had separated a couple of times, but they had gotten back together eventually. That must mean they were in love, Michael thought.

As Vaughn had foreseen, Eric couldn't help but wince.

"So you guys are on again, as I can see."

"Eric, don't start with me…" Vaughn threatened.

Weiss raised his hands, meaning he would not say more.

"Okay, okay… but tomorrow we are celebrating and I won't take no for an answer."

The smile returned on Michael's face.

"Great. Now, Eric, you have half an hour to bring me up to date on the case before the team meeting. Devlin orders."

"Wh… what?" Weiss immediately sobered up and let himself fall back on his chair. "Now I understand why you added the donut!"

Agent Sydney Bristow was tired. She was straight out from the plane that had taken her back from Bulgaria, where she had successfully stolen plans for a bacteriological weapon. Sitting in her seat in the conference room, she wondered if this would be over soon enough for her to go shopping for her friend Will's birthday. She and Francie were throwing him a surprise party that evening but she still had no gift. What else was new, she thought.

"Sydney. Great work in Bulgaria," said her father as he sat beside her, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Thanks, dad. How are y-" she started, but she stopped dead when Arvin Sloane entered the room. Silence fell around the table.

"This man is named Arthur Moore," the head of SD-6 immediately began, pointing at the screen where a picture of a man in his fifties appeared. "Until a week ago, he worked for the Alliance. Now, it seems that he has gone rogue, taking the list of the Alliance members with him. Tomorrow, he is scheduled to meet with a member of K-Directorate in order to sell the list to him."

He paused for a second, noticing the excitement in the eyes of the agents around him.

"Now, I don't have to tell you how important it would be for us to get that list. This could mean the end of the Alliance, our greatest enemy, as you know. Agents Reinhardt and Palmer, you're going to the hotel where he is staying in Slovakia and you will get that list before Moore sells it. See Marshall for your op tech. That will be all."

On their way to the conference room, Weiss was still telling Vaughn about his new assignment.

"So remember: the Los Angeles cell is named SD-6 and it is run by a man named Arvin Sloane."

A tall, stern looking man entered the room before them and Weiss added, whispering:

"This is Jack Bristow, our double agent into SD-6. And here's my advice to you, young man: don't mess with Jack Bristow. When he says black, you say black. When he says white, you say white and you'll live to have children one day, got it?"

"He's that bad?" Vaughn asked, convinced his pal was exaggerating, as he often did.

"Worse. But the thing is: Jack Bristow is never wrong. He's always a step ahead of everyone. He's got resources you can't even imagine. And… he's kind of scary."

Vaughn didn't get the chance to make a comment. Devlin was about to start the meeting.

"Gentlemen, this morning Agent Bristow participated in a very important meeting at SD-6. I'll let him tell you all about it."

Jack wasted no time and began to explain.

"A member of the Alliance has defected with the list of all its members. He is about to sell that list to K-Directorate. In fact, the sell will take place tomorrow in Slovakia. Now, this morning, Arvin Sloane has assigned two agents to retrieve that list, saying it could finally allow them to destroy the Alliance. Of course we all know he wants that list to prevent that from happening. So, we have got to send someone to copy the list before the SD-6 agent gets it."

"Why do we have to copy it? Can't we just take it?" agent Jamison asked without thinking things through.

Jack gave him a look that clearly said he didn't think too highly of him for asking that question, but still explained.

"Very few people at SD-6 know the truth about the Alliance. I'm one of them. If we steal the list and thus prevent agent Reinhardt from obtaining it, Sloane will suspect there is a mole within SD-6. If we copy it and put it back before SD-6 gets there, they will never know we have it. There is no downside from them getting it, because they already have that info. They only want to prevent others to know who their members are."

Jack paused and Devlin continued:

"Now, if we get our hands on that list, for us it could mean a short-term destruction of the Alliance. And that's our main goal, as you all know. So, agents Vaughn and Weiss, you are going to Slovakia. The details of the op are in the file in front of you."

"Fran! I'm home!"

Sydney put down her bag on the counter just as Francie appeared.

"Finally! Girl, I hope you're not too tired from your trip, because there is still so much to do! What did you get Will?" Francie asked, curious.

"The Strokes' CD. The other day he mentioned he liked them," Sydney said as she took the CD out of the bag.

Francie gave her friend a look of compassion and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Syd, honey… you gave it to him last year."

"I did?" replied a surprised Sydney.

"Yes… Syd, I'm not kidding, you have to quit this damn job of yours! Don't you-"

"I know, Fran, I know. But right now I have to go back to the store and fast," she interrupted her.

Gently, Francie took the CD out of Sydney's hands and put it back on the counter.

"Girl, we'll just say we bought my gift to him together. I bought him the greatest sweater. It'll be alright."

Sydney sighed. She hated not being the perfect friend, but right now she had no choice.

This apartment needed to be decorated and fast.

The party was a total success. Will was so surprised and happy to see all those people that he almost started to cry. The food, the atmosphere, the wine… everything was great and Sydney was enjoying it, glad she had just gotten two days off from work.

She had just agreed to another drink when her pager went off. She reached for it, half a second before Francie was able to grab it and probably throw it outside the window.

"Sydney Bristow, I warn you, don't even look…" she threatened.

But it was too late. Sydney had looked and there was no chance she would dismiss that message. Sloane needed her.

Her country needed her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sydney hurried to her bedroom and carefully closed the door behind her. In her purse, she found her secure cell phone and dialled the number she knew by heart.

"Sydney! I'm glad you called so fast. You're leaving for Slovakia in two hours." Sloane announced.

"What happened to Reinhardt and Palmer? I thought they were the ones going," asked Sydney, puzzled.

"Well, Palmer came up with some kind of flu, and we can't take any chance with this mission. So you and Dixon will be taking their places."

"Alright. I'll be right there."

"Thanks Sydney. I knew I could count on you."

Sydney hung up, grabbed the bag she still hadn't had time to unpack from her trip to Bulgaria and left her room, not even taking the time to change. She tried to leave the apartment discreetly, not wanting another speech from Francie. "I'll leave her a message on her cell phone later," Sydney thought.

"Syd, what are you doing?"

She had almost reached the door when Will's unhappy voice made her jump. She sighed inwardly and turned around to face him.

"Will, I'm sorry, I've got to go… I'm leaving for Hong Kong in two hours."

"What? Can't they send someone else? You just came back from Madrid!"

"The guy that was supposed to go got sick and I'm the only one that can replace him. I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you."

"Yeah, sure."

Will sighed, disappointed, but he could never stay mad at Sydney Bristow. He loved her too much for that.

"Just be safe, okay?"

Sydney smiled briefly and gave him a peck on the cheek. She hated herself for keeping on disappointing her two best friends, but, after all, it was for the best of the country.

"I will."

Sitting on the plane taking them to Slovakia, Weiss and Vaughn were going over the details of the mission once again.

"Okay, let's go over this again," had said Weiss, enjoying the fact that he wasn't the new guy on the team, causing Vaughn to raise his eyes to the ceiling, but saying nothing.

"First, I go up to the hotel's fourth floor to install miniature cameras to monitor Moore's door and the elevator, while you register as a guy named Mark Byers. You will go to your room and I'll join you there. We'll make sure the cameras are well adjusted. Then, because we know Moore is a heavy drinker and that he can't stay away from a bar, you will wait there for him to show up, meaning the coast is clear to get to his room. Go it so far?"

"Yeah, I think I do," said Vaughn on a sarcastic tone, annoyed.

"Okay. Then you go to Moore's room, get the disc in the safe, put it in this little thing here to copy it… It'll only take a minute. Then you replace the real disc and get out. I'll watch the surroundings to make sure Moore doesn't come back to his room. If there is any problem, I'll warn you over the comm. link. Easy stuff."

"Yeah, especially since you're doing all the hard work," Vaughn said ironically.

Weiss put down the file he was holding and looked at his best friend.

"You seem a little… tensed, to say the least. Did Alice get mad when you told her you'd miss dinner with the in-laws?"

Vaughn sighed. He knew he shouldn't take out his personal problems on his pal.

"Yeah. She gave me «The Speech», once again…"

"The speech…?"

"Yeah. How she hated my job and how I should quit, and how we could never have children if I don't get a more regular schedule, and so on…"

"Yeah, I'm sure the schedule is the only thing keeping you from making a commitment to Alice…", Eric mumbled more to himself, but Vaughn heard loud and clear.

"All right, that's enough! Just say it once and for all: you don't like Alice."

"Mike, come on… I like Alice, I really do. She's a good person."

"Then what's your problem?"

Weiss took a deep breath. He should just get it out of his chest, even if he knew Vaughn wouldn't be happy to hear what he had to say.

"I… I just think she's not the woman for you, that's all."

There, it was out.

"Oh, yeah? And what do you know about relationships? You'll have the right to talk when you're in a relationship for more than three weeks, got it?", Vaughn replied, angrier by the second.

"Mike, calm down. I may not know a lot about long relationships, but I've been in more relationships than you have and I can easily see you don't belong together. Now, I know it may seem scary to go back to the single's life, especially with your inability to pick up women…"

"What? I'm very good at talking to women!"

"Oh, sure. You may have the looks, but you've got the worse pick up lines I've ever heard."

"And you're better?"

"Yes. No contest."

"All right. Care to make it interesting?"

"Sure."

"How about I go into that bar and get a woman's phone number before Moore comes in?"

"I'd pay to see that! In fact, I bet you an evening at the Kings, on me, if you succeed."

"Deal."

"Okay. Can't wait to see how you ask that poor girl to tell you all about her pets."

When Vaughn entered the bar a few hours later, he immediately located the best spot in the place to see everybody that came in: right at the end of the bar. And the gods must have been with the CIA agent that night, because a gorgeous brunette was sitting there, alone. What an occasion to win that bet he had made with Weiss.

"Eric, I found a target. Listen to the master in action.", he announced to Weiss who was listening over the .

"Good luck, Romeo. Can't wait for you to take me to that hockey game!", Weiss replied, sure his friend could never get the woman's number in time.

Walking toward the brunette, Vaughn had a brief thought about Alice. Was hitting on a girl to win a bet cheating? He quickly decided that spending twenty minutes talking to a beautiful woman didn't matter. He would never see her again, that was for sure. So, trying to find the perfect way to begin conversation, he sat down beside the woman, leaving an unoccupied stool between them. After all, Vaughn didn't want to seem too obvious.

The bartender walked up to him and Vaughn ordered a beer. He took a sip and decided to begin his offensive without wasting any time. He thought that was the best way to go, as he didn't know exactly when Moore would enter the bar and he would have to leave to fulfill his mission.

Pretending his watch had just stopped, Vaughn turned to face the woman and tried, using his best Slovak:

"Excuse me, do you have the time?" he said, or so he thought.

The woman started to laugh, as did Weiss in his ear.

"Sorry, I don't have the turtle," she laughed, speaking English with an Australian accent.

Dixon was also laughing pretty hard in Sydney's ear.

"Geez, Syd, is this guy as bad-looking as his crummy pick up lines?" he wondered. "Clear your throat if these are going to be the longest minutes of your life," he then joked.

But Sydney didn't make a sound. She actually thought Vaughn was pretty cute with his flushed cheeks and embarrassed smile.

"But I know it's 9:30, if that can be of any help," she said, a big smile on her face.

"Thanks…" Michael replied, mortified, as Weiss began to sing the "nah-nah-nah goodbye song" often heard at hockey games, convinced his friend would never get the woman's number after humiliating himself that way.

"I'm Lisa," she said, extending her hand to shake his.

Surprised, Vaughn did the same.

"I'm Mark. Nice to meet you," he replied, smiling as he could picture Eric's astounded face.

"Nice to meet you too. Are you American?"

"Yes. From Chicago. You're Australian, I assume?"

"Yes. From Sydney."

And they began to chat, the conversation being easy between them. The more Vaughn looked at her and talked to her, the more attractive she became to him. Her hair seemed so soft; her brown eyes were so intelligent, so deep… And her smile… When her smile showed off her dimples, it just made you want to smile too. It was contagious.

Sydney, too, was having a nice time. That guy was just too cute. Hot cute, of course… with a little bit of adorable goofiness. Why couldn't she have met that Mark when she wasn't working? Or when she was in Los Angeles? But that was the way her life was. Would she ever get into a serious relationship? Would she ever be able to leave the spy life and start a family? Or become a teacher, just like her mother?

After a while, Vaughn thought it was time to get what he was after before duty called.

"Listen, Lisa, I'm waiting for my business partner to call me, then I have to leave. But… I just… Here's my cell phone number, in case you're ever in Chicago, or want to talk…" Vaughn suddenly said, handing her a bit of paper with a fake cell phone number. He felt really bad lying to her, looking at her right in the eyes. Would she be hurt if she tried the number? He tried to dismiss that thought, but with little success. She was a nice girl and he was playing with her just to win a stupid bet? He felt even guiltier when she, too, handed him her number.

"Here's mine," she said, smiling as the sound made by a desperate Weiss resonated in Vaughn's ear.

"Two-out-of-three, we have got to make this a two-out-of-three!"

But Vaughn didn't listen, completely taken by the woman in front of him. He found himself hoping Moore would never show up, but right at that moment his cell phone rang. It was Weiss.

"Boy Scout… Moore has left his room. Be prepared."

"All right. I'm coming right up," he answered.

At the same time, Dixon announced the same thing to Sydney, who was glad Vaughn was leaving at the same time. She wouldn't have to be the one to excuse herself, leaving the poor guy behind.

"Was that your associate?" she wondered.

"Yes. I'm sorry, but I've got to go to work…"

"I understand. It was nice to meet you. I had a great time," she said, not lying at all.

"Me too."

And with a final smile, he walked away, just as Arthur Moore entered the bar.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sydney waited a few seconds after "Mark" left before getting up on her feet. She smiled at the bartender and hurried out of the bar. Carefully, she avoided her new friend, who was waiting for the elevator, and headed for the stairs, thinking it would be faster, since there was only one elevator.

When she reached the third floor, she suddenly heard Dixon's voice over the comm. link.

"Bluebird, a man just broke into Moore's room!"

Sydney couldn't believe it.

"What? Is it his contact from K-Directorate?"

"No. This guy seems to be younger. Early to mid-thirties, I'd say. Sandy blond hair, dark suit…"

"… and blue shirt," added Sydney, feeling her head spinning, reaching for the handrail.

"Yeah. How do you know?"

"The guy at the bar. Mark. That's him," she murmured, completely stunned. He seemed so nice…

"Oh, god. I'm guessing he works for the Alliance… But Syd, you have to stop him before he gets the disc back!"

"I know. I will."

She rapidly went up the stairs to the fourth floor and headed to Moore's room, jaw clenched.

She knew just how she would get a hold of the disc.

Weiss was carefully studying the two screens in front of him: one watching the elevator, one watching the corridor leading to room 407. Moore's room.

"Still no sign of Reinhardt and Palmer, Boy Scout."

"Good. I'm almost through with the safe… Here. I got the disc."

"Great. Copy it and move out."

"Okay, mommy."

"You're so funny."

"I know, I-"

"Mike, there's a-", they said at the same time, interrupted by someone knocking at the door.

"Mark! It's me, Lisa! I need to talk to you! Please!"

Lisa? What was she doing here? Had she tried to call his fake number or something?

"Damn! She must have followed me!"

"Mike, don't open until you've copied the disc!" Weiss warned him.

But Sydney was still making a lot of noise.

"Mark! I… I can't let you go like this!"

Vaughn, always the nice guy, didn't want "Lisa" to remember him as a jerk. She seemed like a great person and he didn't want her to have any doubts about it.

"I'll get ride of her while the disc is copying," he told Weiss as he walked to the door.

Eric hadn't had time to answer when Michael opened the door to face Sydney Bristow.

If Sydney had taken the elevator, her plan would have failed miserably. The CIA cameras Weiss had installed were oriented to see people coming out of the elevator, not from the stairs, located at the other end of the corridor. So he couldn't see her face and recognized her, therefore warning Vaughn a SD-6 agent was coming.

But as things were, everything went very smoothly for her.

First, Vaughn opened the door.

Immediately, she stepped toward him, putting her arms around his neck, pushing the door completely open with her left foot. Vaughn was totally taken aback. That was the last thing he'd have expected.

"Lisa, I…"

But battling conflicted feelings, Sydney then leaned in to capture his lips. Thinking he was Mark from Chicago, she had liked him more than she would admit to herself. Now that she strongly suspected he was working for the enemy, she hated him.

Vaughn, on his part, couldn't help himself but to surrender to the kiss, Alice's face and his mission flashing in his mind. But he didn't have time to explore these thoughts: suddenly, he felt a flash of pain in the most sensitive part of his anatomy. Bending down, he then briefly saw Sydney's elbow about to strike the side of his head before everything went dark.

Seeing the man collapse on the floor in front of her, Sydney couldn't help but feel a little bad about the pain she had inflicted him. But she had no time to waste.

"He's out of it. I'm getting the disc," she said to Dixon.

"Syd, you're the best," he congratulated his partner.

She smiled as she quickly scanned the room. She noticed the safe was open and then her eyes fell on the little table near the bed. A miniature CD burner was there, containing two discs.

"Thank you Mark, or whatever your real name is," she thought as she grabbed the device.

Walking toward Vaughn's still inanimate body, she wondered why, if he was a member of the Alliance, he would have taken the time to copy the disc. Was he planning on selling it, too? For now, there was no time to waste trying to solve this mystery. Dismissing the thought, she gave one last look to Vaughn, trying to memorize his features, and closed the door behind her.

"Mike? What's going on? Mike!" asked Weiss frantically over the comm. link. He had heard Vaughn's squeal of pain and knew that his friend's present silence was a bad sign. He wondered if he should go to help him or if he should just stay put to watch for Moore's return.

Then, a second later, the woman left the room and, as she headed to the stairs once again, he got to see her face.

"Oh, geez…" he murmured, knowing exactly who she was. But he didn't have time to think further about her and what he could do to stop her: on his screen, he saw that Arthur Moore had just entered the elevator. In less than two minutes, he would find Vaughn.

"Mike! Get out! Moore is coming back! Come on!" he yelled in his friend's ear before bursting out of the room and running to room 407, luckily only a few doors down the corridor.

"Mike!"

His breath caught in his throat when he saw his pal lying on the floor until he saw he was still alive.

"Come on, we've got to run!", Eric said as he battled to put Vaughn back on his feet.

"Weiss… what happened?" finally asked Vaughn as they walked with difficulty out of the room.

"Moore will be coming out of the elevator any second now. He can't see us," Eric explained as he took his friend inside their own room.

"My head hurts…" said Michael, rubbing his head while Weiss helped him sit on the bed.

"Man, you'll feel even worse when you learn who that woman is."

"Who is she?"

"I identified her when she left the room. Her name is Sydney Bristow. Jack Bristow's daughter."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"What? I must have one hell of a concussion, because I think I just heard you say I flirted with Jack Bristow's daughter," said Vaughn, rubbing his temples harder than before.

"You heard right," confirmed Eric, causing Vaughn to stop moving. He raised incredulous eyes to his friend.

"Okay, wait, I don't understand. Jack Bristow has a daughter working for SD-6?"

Weiss nodded, secretly enjoying this.

"Yeah. And it makes you wonder how she could be that beautiful, uh? Her mother must-"

"Weiss! Is she a double agent, too?"

"No. Jack thinks it would put her in danger. Listen, I'll tell you everything on the plane. For now, tell me exactly what happened. I'll call Devlin and then we're out of here."

"I should call him. I'm the one who screwed up."

Eric wasn't going to argue with that statement.

"Okay. I'll pack. And remember: Jack will read Sydney's report. So you better be as close to the truth as you can, my friend. Good luck."

"Yes, sir. I know. I had just met her at the bar. We were expecting two male SD-6 agents, so when she knocked on the door, I just assumed she had followed me. I opened the door, because she was attracting a lot of attention, crying out for me in the corridor. Yes. Then she hit me in the head. It was a judgement call and I take full responsibility. Yes, sir, I realise. Of course, Sir. Goodbye, Sir."

Vaughn hung up and exhaled loudly.

"I guess Devlin wasn't too happy about our performance, uh?" asked Weiss, wincing.

"That's an understatement. I'm lucky my days as senior officer are not already over."

"You didn't mention you kissed her."

"Hey, she was the one who kissed me!"

"Whatever. So can you walk, now? We should go before this place is crawling with K-Directorate agents. They must not be too happy they didn't get the list."

"Yeah, I think can. But god, does it hurt!"

"That's nothing compared to what could happen to you. If you want to have a little Mike Junior someday, I suggest you wear a cup the next time you see Jack!"

Later, as they sat comfortably in their plane seats, Weiss began to tell his friend about who was Sydney Bristow.

"Seven years ago, while Jack and Sydney were estranged, Arvin Sloane had her recruited. She was in college at the time. Jack suspects Sloane wanted to have some way to control him, because he hired and trained Sydney without Jack knowing about it until it was too late."

"Interesting."

"Yeah. So little Sydney rapidly became one of SD-6's finest agents."

"I can see why. But tell me: how long as Jack been a double?"

Weiss shook his head in ignorance.

"I don't know exactly. Sloane and Jack both used to be CIA agents, but one day they had enough and founded SD-6. I seem to remember it didn't take too long before Jack grew disillusioned with Sloane and SD-6. He realised Sloane was cruel, selfish man with his own agenda. So he became a double agent for the CIA."

"And when he found out his daughter had been recruited, he didn't tell her the truth about their activities?"

"Well, I don't know if she would have believed him. They didn't get along very well… From what I know, Sydney Bristow is a very strong-minded person. And Jack doesn't want her in that kind of danger. But he wants the Alliance brought down as soon as possible so she could be free."

With his green eyes showing his resolve, Vaughn added:

"And so do I."

The plane had been flying over U.S. soil for a while when Dixon woke up.

"Hey, sleepy head!" Sydney smiled as he stretched a bit. "I hope I didn't wake you. My keyboard tends to get noisy when overused", she added sarcastically.

Dixon had a big smile.

"Don't complain. It was your turn to write the report."

Sydney returned his smile and Dixon could only think, for the millionth time, how beautiful his partner was.

"I know. I'm almost done anyway."

"Good."

"Dixon?"

"Yes?"

"That guy, Mark… He couldn't have been working for the Alliance. Why would he copy the disc, then? He just had to take it and leave!"

She was right.

"Hum… Maybe he was from another organisation? Maybe they wanted the list, but didn't want K-Directorate to know they had it?" he guessed, as puzzled as she was.

"Maybe."

"Anyway, as soon as we show Marshall the videotape, he'll run him into the database and we'll find out exactly who he is."

"I hope so.", she concluded. Never in a million years would she have admitted to Dixon the real reason she was so curious about that man. She was dying to know who he was. Because she had looked into his green eyes and her instinct told her he just couldn't be one of the bad guys.

And her instinct was never wrong.

It was late that evening when Dixon and Sydney arrived at the Credit Dauphine's headquarters. Only a few agents remained at their desks, probably working overtime to finish an endless report, like it happened regularly to Sydney.

Even at this late hour, Arvin Sloane was still at his desk, and, when he saw the two agents, he quickly got up, opened his door and asked them to come and talk to him.

"Sydney, Dixon, great work in Slovakia! You got the list?"

Without a word, Sydney handed her boss the two discs she had retrieved and briefly explained a puzzled Sloane what had happened.

"Hum… So you got a videotape of that guy?"

"Yes. Here.", said Dixon as he put the tape on Sloane's desk.

Sloane looked at it meditatively for a moment before saying:

"Well, Marshall is gone for the day, so I'll give it to him in the morning. Now you two go home and rest. I'll see you tomorrow."

Both tired, Dixon and Sydney didn't complain and left quickly. As soon as they were out of sight, Sloane typed a six digits password into his computer. He then inserted the tape into a little device and pressed a few more keys on his keyboard. He then had to wait a second or two before the information he wanted appeared on the screen.

When it did, Arvin Sloane leaned back in his leather seat, hands joined like if he had been praying, and murmured to himself:

"Well, well… How did you and the CIA learn about this list, agent Vaughn?"

The next day, walking back into the office after lunch, Eric suddenly turned to Vaughn and said casually:

"So, the Kings are in town this weekend."

Vaughn smiled and replied:

"Yeah, you should hurry and get good tickets."

Eric was stunned.

"Me?"

"Well, yeah. You lost the bet, remember?"

"No I didn't! She gave you a fake number!" Weiss pleaded.

"So? She didn't have to give me one!"

"Oh, sure, you-"

But he stopped dead when suddenly Jack Bristow appeared behind his friend, looking more severe than ever.

"Agent Vaughn."

"Agent Bristow…" said Vaughn, surprised, but still managing to hold Jack's gaze without faltering. Weiss wondered how much of a fool his friend was, standing up like that to the older Agent Bristow.

"I just wanted to tell you… It would be best for you if from now on you kept your hands off my daughter."

And without waiting for an answer, he walked away.

Later that day, Arvin Sloane was sitting at his desk, pensively looking at his employees through the glass walls of his office, when his phone rang.

"Mr Sloane, you have Mr Geiger on line 2."

"Great. Thanks, Mona."

He rapidly pressed the "Line 2" button and greeted his interlocutor:

"Anthony! What a pleasure!"

"Arvin! I got your message. It seems that you need me?"

"Yes. I think there is a CIA mole inside SD-6. And I want you to find it."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Agent Vaughn."

"Agent Bristow…", said Vaughn, surprised, but still managing to hold Jack's gaze without faltering. Weiss wondered how much of a fool his friend was, standing up like that to the older Agent Bristow.

"I just wanted to tell you… It would be best for you if from now on you kept your hands off my daughter."

And without waiting for an answer, he walked away.

The two CIA agents were still stunned by their encounter with Jack when Devlin came up to them.

"Agents Weiss and Vaughn, I want to see you both in the conference room in five minutes. Jack has new information about yesterday's failed op. So be there."

"Yes, Sir, we will." replied Weiss as Devlin walked away. Looking at his friend he added:

"I guess our pals at SD-6 had a little conversation about your encounter with Miss Bristow, uh?" he teased.

A dark look was Vaughn's only response.

As soon as everybody was seated, Jack begun:

"This morning, I was at the SD-6 headquarters when I was called into a meeting to talk about the operation in Slovakia…"

"Well, first of all, I'd like to congratulate agents Bristow and Dixon for their excellent work in Slovakia," Sloane began. "They were able to recover the disc containing the list of all the Alliance's operatives. Or so we thought."

"What?", said Sydney, in shock.

Marshall Flinkman, the "tech guy", stood up and began explaining what Sloane meant.

"Hi, uh, everybody. This morning when I came in, I… well, Mr Sloane gave me the disc, well TWO discs retrieved by Miss Bristow and Mr Dixon, and I immediately began to examine them, although I really had a lot of things to do, but of course this could, COULD have meant we could have destroyed the Alli-"

"Marshall," Sloane only said, but Marshall, embarrassed, understood and continued:

"So, the discs contained nothing. Rien. Niet. Nada."

"I can't believe this!" Dixon exclaimed, while Sydney looked kind of depressed. "Could the guy Sydney knocked out have erased them?"

"No.", replied Marshall. "The device he had on him couldn't have done that."

"Moore might have hidden the real disc somewhere else, or maybe was just playing with K-Directorate," explained Sloane.

"That would have been suicide," remarked Sydney.

"Yes, probably."

"But who was that mysterious man?" finally asked Sydney, the question having been burning her lips for a while.

"Well, uh, Miss Bristow, allow me to answer that.", said Marshall. "Using the surveillance footage you took of the corridor in front of Moore's room, I got a pretty nice image of him that I ran into our database. And guess what? I found him."

"Thank you, Marshal.," Sloane said as he got up and put his hand on Marshall's shoulder so he would sit down. "And Marshall came up with pretty interesting results. This man is named Michael Vaughn."

"Michael Vaughn," repeated Sydney to herself.

"Who does he work for?" Dixon wondered.

"That's where it gets interesting. He's CIA."

"What? He's with us?" exclaimed Sydney, astonished.

Sloane explained:

"For a few months now, he has been under secret surveillance. His superiors suspect him to be a traitor of this country. Now, thanks to you, we have the proof we needed."

"But then who does he really work for?", asked Jack, who couldn't believe the story Sloane had made up and was starting to be worried about his double agent status. Vaughn's failure to succeed in his mission and Sloane knowing he was CIA meant the head of SD-6 would start to question the loyalty of those near him. That could not be a good thing.

"Well, Jack, we think he works for «The Man»."

Sydney was sitting on her couch, feet resting on the coffee table, staring blankly at the TV. Deep in her thoughts, she didn't hear Francie walking into the apartment, carrying grocery bags.

"Syd? Would you help me with those? There are more in the car. I can't believe how much stuff we have to get to make sure we have enough for the week. Will really eats a lot when he comes over, he…"

Seeing her friend had not even moved, Francie put the bags on the kitchen counter and walked up to her.

"Syd? Can't you hear me? Are you okay?"

Sydney, startled, jumped on her feet.

"What? Yeah, sorry Fran."

Francie sat down on the couch.

"Honey, sit down with me."

"I'm okay. I'll help you with the groceries", said Sydney as she noticed the bags on the counter.

But Francie shot her a mean look and Sydney knew it was best for her to sit down too.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Sydney Bristow, if you think you can sit here and-"

"I was only thinking about a guy from work."

"Really?" said Francie, on the edge of her seat, already thrilled.

"Don't get too excited. I've only seen him once. He works for another branch of Credit Dauphine, but today I learned something quite disturbing about him."

"What?"

"My boss said that this guy, Mark, stole a list of clients from the bank and tried to sell them to another one. But I just can't believe it", explained Sydney, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Why? You just said you only met him once."

"I know. It's crazy of me, but my instinct just tells me he could not be a traitor."

"My instinct tells me you like this guy", said Francie with a teasing smile.

"Oh, Fran, come on! You HOPE I like this guy, or just any guy, for that matter."

"You're right. And I'm getting a little desperate. How long since your last date? A year?"

"Fran…" warned Sydney.

"Syd, you're pathetic. You're never going to get married. And I'm afraid you're never going to be a teacher either if you don't quit that stupid job of yours. It really is… Where are you going?" asked Francie when Sydney suddenly got up.

"I just remembered I had a class this afternoon! I almost forgot! Thanks Fran! See you later!"

A second later, Sydney closed the door behind her, leaving Francie alone, sighing.

"«The Man»?" wondered Weiss, puzzled. "Who is that? Another one of those lunatics who wants to take over the world?" he joked, eliciting a furtive smile from Vaughn, but getting only stoned faces from the two other men.

"«The Man» is the head of a criminal organisation we still don't know much about" Jack started to explain. "We're not even sure of his true identity. We think it could be a man named Alexander Khasinau."

As everyone pondered over that information, Jack continued:

"With Sloane finding out the CIA knew about the trade scheduled to happen in Slovakia, I'm quite certain he's trying to identify the mole right as we speak. Mr Vaughn, if I were you I'd be extra careful. Sloane knows who you are. He might want to have a little chat with you in order to get that information."

Vaughn could only nod; silently cursing the day he had been assigned to that case. But then he realised:

"Wait. If Sloane finds out you're a double agent… Couldn't he use Sydney to get to you? Or maybe even suspect her of working with us?", he said, feeling worse and worse. By his fault, because of that stupid bet he and Weiss had made, Jack and maybe even Sydney could be killed.

"Glad to see you can actually figure out the consequences of your actions. You're right, Sydney could be a target. So if I'm discovered, I want the CIA to immediately find Sydney and get her into the Witness Protection Program."

Vaughn and Weiss briefly looked at one another. An innocent woman could end up paying for their mistakes. And there was nothing they could do about it.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Anthony! I'm so glad you're here!" greeted Sloane, shaking Geiger's hand.

"Arvin! I did as fast as I could. I had a few businesses to take care of before I could fly out here…" he apologized.

"It' s okay. Now, please, sit down and let me fill you in on our little problem…"

For long minutes, Sloane explained in detail to Geiger how he knew there was a mole inside SD-6 and how he expected him to find it quickly.

"That Agent Vaughn… We could easily capture him and «convince» him to reveal his source…", Sloane suggested, a mean glimmer in his eyes.

But Geiger shook his head.

"No need to get messy. Give me two days to read the suspects files and sneak around. I'll find your mole. Torturing that CIA agent is going to be our last resort. He may not even have clearance to know that info."

Sloane leaned back into his chair.

"All right. But no more than two days. That mole needs to be taken care of."

It was late that night when Vaughn finally got home. After leaving work with a splitting headache, he had stopped at the drugstore to get some Tylenol, but, when he was done, his car had refused to start again. Tired, Vaughn had to wait for the towing truck to come get his car, and then he had to call a cab to finally get home.

Closing the door behind him with his foot, Vaughn threw his keys on the table and gazed at the answering machine. The red light was blinking, indicating he had messages. "Probably Alice…", he thought, but talking to her was above his strength for the time being. He didn't feel like explaining why he was home so late, and he couldn't tell her about the stuff he really would have wanted to talk about: how lately he had endangered three lives, including his own. Sometimes, like tonight, he felt like his relationship to Alice was just a front to a normal life. A life where he was supposed to be an ordinary State Department employee. A life where your careless actions never led to death.

His stomach growling stopped his course of thinking. He quickly took his jacket off and walked into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator's door, he was greeted only by the sight of a bottle of ketchup and some butter. When was the last time he had gone grocery shopping?

Vaughn sighed and opened a drawer. He took out a few fliers from some neighbourhood restaurants and rapidly decided for pizza. There was that new place around the corner he had been meaning to try… He made his choice and grabbed his phone, but suddenly realised he didn't have enough cash on him. He would need his credit card. Sighing again, he got up and went to get his wallet from his jacket's pocket.

When he opened it, a folded piece of yellow paper met his gaze. He unfolded it and read it.

(61) 02-9755 8254.

Sydney's phone number.

Well, Sydney's phoney phone number.

His thoughts drifted to her. What was she doing at that moment? Did she know anything about the danger lurking around her and her father? Did she really believe he, Michael Vaughn, was a traitor, like Sloane had told her?

He was standing there, cell phone into one hand, phone number into the other. Without thinking, he began dialing the last seven digits of the number, discarding the first five, which were sort of an area code for Sydney, Australia.

What was he expecting? Maybe he had taken one too many Tylenol, because he was in some kind of second state. Suddenly, someone answered at the other end of the line.

"Hello?"

It was her, the shivers he felt all over his body were proof enough. What was he doing? What was the matter with him?

"Hello?" she repeated.

Vaughn looked down on the fliers lying on the counter and said the first thing came to his mind:

"Uh… Joey's Pizza?"

Sydney put a strand of hair back behind her ear and replied:

"Sorry… Wrong number!"

"Oh, sorry… Goodnight", said the man.

"Goodnight", she replied, polite.

Sydney hung up and stood there in the middle of the kitchen, lost in her thoughts. She must be going crazy, because she thought that guy's voice sounded familiar.

Sounded just like Michael Vaughn's voice.

What was wrong with her? He was a traitor. He may be hot cute, but he was a mean person, she had to remember herself. Was she in such a need of a man in her life that she would fall for the first guy who would flirt with her? Maybe Francie was right. Maybe she ought to go out more. Maybe…

"Who was it?" wondered Francie when she entered the kitchen, just out of the bathtub.

"Uh… It was a wrong number… Fran?"

"Yes, honey?"

"Remember that guy you wanted to fix me up with, that medical student?"

"Danny."

"Yes… Do you think he would still be interested? He seems nice."

Francie almost started to jump up and down, really excited about the prospect of playing matchmaker.

The next two days were pretty uneventful for Vaughn. There still hadn't been any sign that SD-6 was after him, so he was able to concentrate on learning more about the Alliance's case. No word from Jack either indicating an investigation was going on to find the mole. That didn't mean anything, of course.

"Come on Mike, I want to be home before the game begins!"

Vaughn, who was reviewing a file with fellow agent Rick Taylor, raised his eyes to meet Weiss'.

"Just a minute Eric. We're almost done."

"Why do you need Mike, Weiss? Afraid of going into the parking garage alone?", teased Rick, making Vaughn laugh.

Eric made a face and replied:

"Oh, you're such a funny guy, Taylor…"

"My car broke down two days ago and was being repaired just around the corner from Eric's place. He is taking me to get it back.", Vaughn explained. "Would you mind if we finished this tomorrow?"

"No problem. It's getting late. I'll finish a few things and head home too or my wife is going to beat me up!"

"I know who the mole is."

Arvin Sloane raised his eyes to look at the man that had just entered his office.

"Who is it?", he asked, his eyes already full of hatred.

"Jack Bristow."

Sloane's breath caught in his throat. No, not Jack.

"That's impossible. He's been with me since the beginning."

"Arvin, there were so many red flags in his file that I thought I was inside a Russian airport."

"Are you sure?"

"Look."

Geiger handed a file to Sloane who took a few minutes to read carefully. He finally put it back on his desk and leaned into his chair, hands joined, thinking. Somewhere along the course of their collaboration, Jack Bristow had turned his back to him. He could hardly believe it, but the accumulation of facts he had just been shown had convinced him. He even wondered how come he had never found out himself…

"What about Sydney?", he finally asked.

Geiger pointed to another file in front of him.

"I looked into her file. Everything seems normal, but I still have my doubts."

"Jack and Sydney never did have a very strong bond until very recently. It's quite possible she doesn't know."

"It's possible."

"I will still take the necessary means to find out if she is loyal to SD-6. Meanwhile, we need to find Jack."

Sloane made a quick phone call to the head of Security Section, explaining he wanted to see Jack Bristow and fast. The records indicated he was still in the building, and Sloane made it clear he should not leave.

"Yes. When you find him, bring him to my little room in the basement. I'll see him there."

It was getting kind of late and Jack still had a lot of work to do. But he knew he shouldn't stay here, at Credit Dauphine, any longer than he had to to act like everything was normal. If Sloane ever found out he was the mole while he was here, Jack knew it would be very difficult to escape.

Putting his papers in order, Jack decided to bring some work at home. As he turned off his computer, he remembered his laptop battery wasn't holding charge as well as it used to. He would have to get a new one before leaving, so he headed to the room where they kept all the extra computer parts and accessories.

Five minutes later, as he was about to leave that room with a new battery, Jack heard some voices. Knowing the Security Section's offices were just a few steps away from where he was standing, Jack stepped back into the shadows and listened to what the men were saying.

"Brown, you secure the northern entrance. Harris, you take care of the eastern exit. Be careful. Sloane will kill us if Bristow escapes."

Both men nodded and soon all three disappeared. Jack felt the familiar adrenaline rush kicking in and rapidly settled on a plan.

When Jack arrived near the eastern exit, agent Harris had just taken position and was loading his gun, his back turned to him. That was Jack's chance. Swiftly, he approached the man from behind and knocked him out with a well-placed elbow. Then, without wasting a second, he opened the door and ran outside. He quickly discarded the idea of getting his car, but, being the great agent Jack Bristow, he had prepared for that eventuality. He ran an additional two hundred meters to the underground public parking garage where he had another car waiting for him. He bent down, retrieved the key he had hidden under the bumper and hurriedly got inside.

He took a few seconds to catch his breath, thinking how old he was getting. He kept in shape, yes, but he had been in this business for over thirty years now. Suddenly, the realisation hit him: it was over. He had prepared his getaway a long time ago, in case he was discovered, but he never though it would actually happen. Now he was going into hiding, leaving the spy life behind him until the Alliance would be taken down. It could happen within a few months as well as never at all.

He might never see his daughter again. He closed his eyes, trying to withhold some rare tears from falling. He then took a few deep breaths and did what he had to do. Getting his phone out of his pocket, he fulfilled his last task as Agent Jack Bristow. He called the CIA and announced, his voice as assured as always:

"This is Jack Bristow. I've been made. Now get to Sydney before Sloane does."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"So, I'm free Saturday night of next week.", announced Vaughn as they were driving in Eric's car.

"Good for you. Alice has had enough of you?", Weiss joked.

Vaughn made a face.

"No, you dummy. It's her girls' night out. And the Kings are at home, playing the Red Wings. See what I mean?"

Eric had a big smile and let go of the wheel for a moment to do a bit of his famous happy dance.

"You're taking me to the game!", he exclaimed.

"No, YOU are. I won the bet, remember?", replied Vaughn.

"She gave you a phoney number, remember?"

Without a word, Vaughn reached inside his pocket and extracted the yellow piece of paper.

"Eric, here's the number she gave me. Forget about the Australian area code and call."

"You called her?! No, you didn't. You're playing with me."

Eric grabbed the phone Vaughn was handing him and dialled the number written on the paper.

"Hi, you've reached Sydney and Francie's place, please leave a message and-"

Weiss hung up. He didn't need to hear more.

"You DID call her! I can't believe this…"

Vaughn snatched his phone back from Weiss' hand and replied, a bit irritated:

"So what? I wanted to prove you how I had won fair and square, so you'd stop whining…"

"I'm not-", began Eric, but the ringing of Vaughn's cell phone interrupted him.

"Vaughn.", he answered.

"Mike, this is Taylor. Did you and Eric drive by the university yet?", he ask rapidly.

It was obvious to Vaughn that something was going on.

"No, we'll be there in five minutes, why?", he asked, his brow furrowed.

"Jack Bristow has been discovered…"

"What?"

"… and we have to protect his daughter. She has a class right now, ending in ten minutes…"

"We'll be there! Which room?"

"B-202, the building's name is-"

"I know where! We'll take care of her!"

"Take her here when you have her. But Mike, you-"

But Vaughn had already hung up.

"Jack has been made! We have to get Sydney at the university!"

"Oh god! No!"

To gain as much time as he could, Weiss started to change lanes successively. The two agents weren't talking, both painfully aware of the role they had played in this disaster. They had to take Sydney Bristow to safety before the SD-6 Security Section got to her. It wasn't even an option.

A few minutes later, they reached the campus, but were suddenly stopped by the heavy circulation. Rush hour. Desperate, Vaughn looked at his watch. They would never get to her before the end of her class. He had to do something.

Briefly glancing at Weiss, he shouted:

"Stop the car! I'll run, it'll be faster!"

Eric obeyed, and Vaughn had already opened the door when his friend realised something.

"Mike! You can't go! Mike! She thinks you're a traitor! She'll kill you… Damn! Mike!"

But it was hopeless. Vaughn was already running toward Sydney.

As he was running along the corridor leading to room B-202, Vaughn felt like he was running on "memory lane". He knew the building almost by heart. Years ago, he had had a girlfriend studying here to be a teacher. They had kissed on that bench. They had broken up at the bottom of those stairs.

Now, years later, he was a CIA agent trying to rescue another spy. Talk about a strange turn of events…

"Excuse me… sorry…", he muttered as he tried to avoid the many students getting out of the classroom, desperately looking for Sydney.

But she wasn't there.

Hoping she had indeed been there today, he asked a girl if she had seen Sydney.

"Sydney Bristow? I don't know her…"

"A beautiful brunette, long hair, great smile, probably not here very often…"

"Oh, yeah, I know who you mean. Yes, she left in a hurry as soon as class was over, as usual."

"Thanks!", he said as he ran out of the class, heading for the parking garage, hoping to find her there. Not slowing down, he took his cell phone and called Weiss.

"Eric! Go outside the underground parking garage and make sure she can't get out of it! I'll get her there!"

"I'm on it!"

Sydney was walking towards her SUV, cursing under her breath. The teacher had just given the class another big essay to write, due in two weeks, and she was wondering just how she would do it. How would she find the time to write this? She sighed, thinking how she would never graduate. Maybe she should just let go of her dream to be a teacher some day. Maybe she should be honest with herself and realise she was going to be a spy her whole life.

Just like her dad.

With regret, she thought she didn't even know how he had gotten into that business in the first place. They had never talked much about anything other than work. Well, at least now they were talking. They actually had a relationship, and she was grateful for that. She just had to believe that they would get closer as time went by. That was very important to her. Her father was the only family she had, and, if Francie were to be right, the only family she would ever have.

As she got near her car, she heard some quick footsteps behind her. If she hadn't been a spy, she wouldn't even have noticed, but as things were she couldn't help but needing to see who it was.

Pretending she was looking for her keys, she slowed down and positioned so she could see behind her with the help of a car's left side mirror.

And her heart almost stopped.

Michael Vaughn, clad in a dark suit, just like three days ago, was following her.

Michael Vaughn, traitor of this country, member of "The Man's" organisation, was after her. Why? Did he want to get back at her for his failed mission? She was about to find out. But not quite the way he expected her to…

There she was! Right in front of him. Careful, Vaughn decided to get closer to her before calling out her name. If Security Section was around, it could be dangerous to attract their attention.

So he kept on following her, hoping Weiss was in position outside the parking lot. At one point, a noise briefly attracted his attention to his right, and, when he looked back at Sydney… she was gone. Almost panicked, he frantically searched the area with his eyes, but with no result.

He knew she still hadn't reached her SUV, as he could see it parked two hundred feet from the spot he had seen her at just a second ago.

"She was reaching for her keys…" he thought, right before a violent pain erupted on the already bruised side of his head. He felt his knees get weak and a second later his right arm hurt like hell as well. He felt himself being pushed against a nearby car.

"What do you want from me?" a feminine voice asked.

Vaughn looked up and his green eyes met dark, infuriated ones.

"Sydney…" he said, pain evident in his voice.

"How do you know my name?" she asked, surprised, as he felt a tiny released of her grip on his arm. That would have been the occasion to free himself from her grasp, but he decided to let her have the advantage. That way, she would listen to him.

"Your father… He's in danger."

"What?"

"It's a long story. SD-6 is not a secret branch of the CIA. It's part of the Alliance. You've been working for the very enemy you thought you were fighting against…" he explained quickly.

"You lying son of a bitch! YOU are the enemy!" Sydney shouted, disgusted and strangely mad at him for working with the bad guys.

"You have to believe me! I'm CIA. Jack was a double for us, but Sloane just found out and now your dad is on the run. He wants us to bring you into the Witness Protection Program. That's why you have to come with me."

"I'm not going anywhere with you. In fact, you're the one coming with me. To Sloane."

"Sydney, I have proof of what I'm saying. Just not on me… Jack made a tape where he explains everything. Let me show it to you. Please."

"What were you doing in Slovakia?"

"We can't talk here. Security Section is probably looking for you as we speak."

Sydney stayed silent for a moment and Vaughn knew he had won.

"Then I'll meet you later. But not at the CIA's offices."

"Alright. There is a warehouse we use for secret meetings. 1042 Hopeland Road. 2 AM."

"Okay. Be alone or you'll be sorry."

"I already am," he said, rubbing his head with his free hand.

Hiding a brief smile, Sydney let go of his arm and walked away. She was very concerned about her dad. If what Vaughn had said was true, her whole world was about to collapse.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The sound of someone honking in the car behind hers brought Sydney back to reality and she released the brake pedal. The light had turned to green and she hadn't noticed. She was troubled and had some difficulty to concentrate on the road home.

A minute ago, she had tried to call her father, both on his cell phone and at home. He hadn't answered. She had then called his office at SD-6, but hadn't been any luckier. She was really getting nervous; her father ALWAYS answered his cell phone, she even suspected he brought it with him in the shower…

Looking once again into her rear view mirror, she noticed the black car was still behind her. Sydney was pretty sure it was Security Section, and she was starting to wonder if what Vaughn had told her could indeed be true. She knew Security Section performed random checks on SD-6 agents, but today? That was a strange coincidence, to say the least…

Her worried mind tried to think of every possibility to explain the last events. What if Alexander Khasinau, who they believed was "The Man", was playing with her? What if he had sent Vaughn to her? But why? Could he have hurt her father?

But what if what Vaughn had said was the truth? What if SD-6 was part of the Alliance? What if Jack Bristow had really been a double agent?

Finally reaching her apartment, Sydney shook her head to herself. It wasn't possible. Her father would never have agreed for her to be recruited by SD-6, and, if he hadn't been able to stop it, he would never have let her risk her life daily while working for the enemy… He would have arranged for her to go under the Witness Protection Program before today… wouldn't he?

She would know in 7 hours.

Arvin Sloane was sitting down at his desk, seemingly calm, but furious inside. Jack had escaped. How could that have happened?

He was still trying to figure that out when his phone rang. Security Section. "Hope they have good news…" Sloane thought.

"Sir, Sydney Bristow just came home, straight from school. Nothing to report."

"Good. Continue the surveillance until I say otherwise."

"Understood, Sir."

Well, at least Sydney wasn't on the run too. Maybe it meant she was still loyal to SD-6. He would hate to lose her, too, as she was one of the best agents SD-6 had ever had. Maybe she even was the best of all. Not wanting to arrest Sydney without being absolutely sure she was a double, Sloane had a plan, and it was time to set it in motion…

Not being able to hold back a wicked grin, Sloane dialled Sydney's number.

"Bristow", she answered, strangely calm. Up to a second ago, she was pacing nervously in her room, waiting for that very call.

"Sydney! I'm afraid I have some unsettling news for you", said Sloane, trying to sound saddened.

"About what, Sir?"

"Sydney, my child, your father just went into hiding."

She tried to sound surprised.

"What? Why?"

"I'm sorry to tell you like this, but… We found out today that he was a double agent for Khasinau."

Okay, Syd, time for the big act.

"What? That's impossible! What proof do you have?"

"Well, we studied his file carefully and found many inconsistencies. Plus we know that he's the one who told that Khasinau agent, Michael Vaughn, about the Alliance members list you retrieved in Slovakia."

That made sense and now Sydney was extremely confused. Who should she believe?

"Sydney, I'm sorry. I know I should be giving you some time off to process this information, but I can't. I need you with us tomorrow morning at 10 AM for an important meeting. We need to figure out how having had a mole in our organisation will affect us."

"Alright, Sir, I will be there."

She hung up, her head spinning. She thought she was about to throw up and opened the door out of her bedroom when she bumped into Francie.

"Syd, are you okay? You seem pale…", asked her friend, concerned.

"Yeah… Just a little tired."

"Gee, I wonder why…", replied Francie, sarcastic.

"Fran…", warned Sydney.

"Okay, okay… I just wanted to tell you that I talked with Danny. He was very happy to know you were interested on going on a date with him. He said he would call you as soon as he knew his schedule at the hospital."

"Okay… great."

"Try to sound a little more enthusiastic when he calls, okay?"

"I will, I will. Thanks, Fran."

Sydney waited until Francie was sound asleep, around midnight, to sneak out of the house. Before meeting Vaughn at 2 AM, she wanted to think. And the best place to do such thing was at the pier.

Suspecting she was still under the Security Section's surveillance, Sydney decided not to take her own car. She got out of the apartment using the back door and slipped into the shadows. She jumped the backyard fence and found herself out of sight from the SD-6 agents.

After walking a few minutes, she reached the bus stop and it took only a short while before the bus came. It was almost deserted, and she found herself trying to imagine why the other passengers were in that bus at such a late hour. Was this man going to work? Was that girl coming back from a studying at a friend's house? Pretty sure no one could ever imagine where SHE was going, she thought, almost amused.

Ten minutes later, Sydney was standing at the pier, leaning against the railing, deep in her thoughts. Looking at the ocean had always calmed her, had always helped her see things clearly.

The first time she had been here at night was when she was asked to join the spy life. Before agreeing, she had come here in order to make a decision. She knew it would be a life changing choice. On one hand, she really liked the prospect of becoming a teacher, just like her mother had been. But sometimes, she wondered if she would have chosen that career if her mom had lived…

On the other hand, she was thrilled at the possibility of serving her country. She thought it would be a rewarding experience, plus she would get to see all those places, to play all these roles… Not quite the reality, now she knew it.

But what if what Vaughn had told her was the truth? It would mean those seven years had been a big lie, a big waste. How would she be able to face herself in the mirror from now on? It would also mean she had been working for terrorists!

And what if this upcoming meeting was a trap? Somehow she preferred that eventuality. She knew how to fight people; putting her illusions to rest was a much more difficult thing to do.

Vaughn was sitting on a crate, his head resting against the fence, wondering if Sydney would come.

His head hurt.

He was tired.

He was in a bad mood.

Right now, he hated his life. And when thinking about his earlier meeting with his boss, he hated his job, too.

After talking with Sydney, he had gotten back his car and had driven back to the CIA to report and get the tape Jack had made for his daughter.

And then he had met with Devlin.

"Well, Agent Vaughn, I think we have to prepare for the eventuality of Miss Bristow refusing to go into hiding. If she is just one bit like her father, she will want to fight Arvin Sloane and the Alliance until they go down.", began Devlin.

"You mean she'd ask to become a double?", Vaughn asked, incredulous.

"Yes. And you will encourage her."

Vaughn used all his willpower not to jump on his feet.

"What? No, that's too dangerous. Sloane probably already suspects her!", Vaughn protested, thinking how Jack would probably come back from hiding to kill him with his bare hands if he failed to protect his daughter.

"We'll never bring down the Alliance without someone inside."

"But…"

"Agent Vaughn, I'm not asking for your opinion.", said Devlin, irritated.

"I'm sorry, Sir."

Devlin nodded and continued:

"So, if she agrees to work with us, tell her Agent Lambert will contact her early tomorrow morning."

"Agent Lambert?"

"Yes. He's experienced and knows this case really well. We can't screw this up again", said Devlin, giving Vaughn a meaningful look.

Of course, his mistakes had led them into this situation and Devlin wasn't happy. Vaughn looked down and didn't protest. Devlin had made the right decision; he had to admit it to himself.

And now, sitting in this gloomy warehouse, he knew that, whatever she would decide, this was the last time he would see Sydney Bristow. Well, maybe that would be a good thing, he joked to himself, rubbing his bruised head.

He suddenly got up.

Somebody was coming.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The warehouse was dark and smelled like gas. Walking inside, Sydney carefully scanned the area. Michael Vaughn appeared to be alone. Her senses in alert, she walked toward the fenced area where he was standing, holding what looked like a DVD.

He seemed tired and she felt a bit guilty when she saw the side of his face. The old bruise was now kind of green, while the one she had inflicted on him earlier that evening had turned purple.

"Hi, Sydney," he greeted her with a small smile.

"Mr. Vaughn," she said coldly.

"I'm glad you came."

"Show me the tape", she asked, needing to know once and for all what was really going on. She and her father had agreed on a secret password to use in such a situation and she couldn't wait to watch the tape…

"As you wish."

Vaughn turned around and inserted the DVD into a portable DVD player that was sitting on top of a nearby crate. Sydney approached and, without a word, Vaughn pressed the "play" button.

Jack Bristow appeared on the screen.

"Sydney, if you see this, it means I'm either dead or gone into hiding. Either way, I need to explain why. But before I do, I have to tell you that your old «Alice in Wonderland» book is still at my place. Go and get it whenever you want."

Puzzled, Vaughn looked at Sydney. Her eyes were filled with tears. "Alice in Wonderland" was the password she had been waiting to hear.

So it was true.

Her knees weak, her heart beating furiously, she tried to get a hold of herself because Jack was keeping on with his explanations. Vaughn was looking at her curiously but said nothing.

"… so I became a double agent for the CIA. On October 1st, you retrieved a list of the Alliance members, which Sloane later erased. I was the one who told the CIA about that list. I knew it was a risky mission, but I hoped it would succeed. That way the Alliance would have been brought down in no time and you would have been free…"

Sydney's face turned white. She had just realised she was the reason the CIA had failed to bring down the Alliance. She was the reason her dad had been discovered. This must be a nightmare… If only she hadn't met Vaughn at the bar, he never would have opened the door and…

Vaughn was also feeling really bad. If he had been able to resist Sydney… if she hadn't been so adorable…

"Darling, the CIA will place you on the Witness Protection Program. You'll be safe. Please, get out of this life while you still can. While you can still do something with your life. I love you, Sydney."

The screen became black and Vaughn turned the DVD player off. He then looked at Sydney. Determination was evident in her eyes.

"Alright, Agent Vaughn. The CIA just got itself a new double into SD-6."

Apparently calm and resolute, Sydney really just wanted to throw up. How could Sloane use her like this? There had been times over the past years when she had considered he and his wife Emily to be the parents she no longer had. Rage was burning inside of her. Sloane was going to pay.

Defying Devlin's orders, Vaughn couldn't help but try to change her mind.

"Syd… I mean, Miss Bristow, you can't do that. It's too dangerous. Sloane is probably after you and-"

She interrupted him.

"I'm a big girl. I know what I'm doing. If I go into the WPP, I'll never see my father again. You can't bring the Alliance down without me. So I'll have to convince Sloane I'm loyal to SD-6."

Somehow, looking into her eyes, Vaughn knew he wouldn't be able to change her mind. Stubbornness seemed to run in the Bristow family…

"Okay then. Agent Lambert will contact you early in the morning."

Sydney raised an eyebrow.

"Who? Lambert? Why?"

She didn't seem too happy with the news.

"He'll be your handler."

She didn't try to understand exactly why she didn't like that idea. All she knew was that ever since she had met Vaughn, her instincts had urged her to trust him. She wanted him to be her handler. End of the story.

"Why can't you be my handler?"

Embarrassed, Vaughn explained:

"My boss, Devlin… He wants someone more experienced… This case is too important…"

Sydney shook her head.

"Call your boss. I want to talk to him."

Oh, god.

"But… Don't…"

"Make that call."

A moment later, Vaughn was handing her the phone, hoping things wouldn't turn out too bad.

"Mr. Devlin. I'm Sydney Bristow, your new double into SD-6..."

Devlin was very pleased to hear such thing. Vaughn had done his job. Maybe giving him that promotion hadn't been such a mistake after all.

"This is great news, Miss Bristow. I'm-"

"… under one condition: Agent Vaughn will be my handler."

"No, no. We can't-"

"Oh, yes, you can. He's the one I trust. Don't waste your time trying to replace him. If you do, you'll have to find yourself another double. Because I'll disappear and you'll never see me again."

Devlin sighed. Were all those Bristows that inflexible?

"Alright. Agent Vaughn will be your handler."

"Thanks."

Sydney didn't wait for Devlin to answer back before hanging up. She then handed the phone back to Vaughn who was looking at her in utter amazement. That woman really was something.

He smiled at her and said:

"Thanks for your trust."

She avoided his gaze. She hadn't planned to let him know she somehow trusted him already.

"No problem. So, how does this work?"

Sitting on crates, Vaughn took a few minutes to explain to Sydney what was really SD-6, what role her father had played… When he showed her a map of the Alliance, she gasped: she would never have had suspected it reached that far, had so many ramifications. Her father had been working for years to take the Alliance down and hadn't succeeded. Now she understood why.

"This is not about cutting off an arm of the monster. This is about killing the monster," Vaughn explained, and she felt a wave of discouragement washing over her. She was in this for the next century at the very least.

Vaughn rolled up the map and put it aside before continuing:

"For a few weeks we're going to have to be extra careful. Sloane will probably try to know if you're a double agent or not."

"Okay."

"You'll have to contact me whenever you get a new mission, and we'll see how we can use it to the CIA's advantage."

"How do I contact you?"

"Well, when I need to contact you, I'll call you up pretending it is a wrong number. I'll ask for… uh…"

"Joey's Pizza," she suggested, unaware that Vaughn had really been he one calling that night.

Vaughn felt his cheeks burning, wondering if she had recognized him over the phone. But she wasn't smiling or anything, so he guessed she hadn't.

"Okay. Joey's Pizza. When you need to see me, use this number and we'll meet here, same time," he said, handing her a business card.

She briefly looked at it and gave it back to him.

"You should memorize it," he said, surprised.

"I just did."

Wondering if he just wasn't way out of his league, he put the card back in his pocket. Yes, this girl was good. Very good.

"So, Sloane called me earlier this evening. There is a meeting in the morning. He said we needed to discuss how my father working for Khasinau will affect us."

"Okay… You'll go to this meeting, but be careful. Sloane will try to test you. Then report back to me."

"Understood."

There was a short silence before Vaughn asked:

"Sydney… Are you okay about all this? I mean, with your father being away?"

His eyes expressed such concern she had to look away to avoid breaking into tears. She wasn't going to break down now. Not in front of him.

"I'm okay."

Vaughn didn't know how she could really be okay, but didn't add anything. Of course she wasn't going to confide in him.

"So I'll talk to you tomorrow, then."

"Yes."

She took a few steps towards the door, but then turned around:

"Sorry to keep hurting you," she apologized.

Vaughn smiled and replied:

"I'm okay. The bruise to my ego is worse. I'm going to be the laugh of the office. The guy that gets beat up by a girl."

She briefly smiled too, turned around and left.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

When she came inside the Credit Dauphine building that morning, Sydney felt everything was different. As she was saying hello to some of her fellow co-workers, she couldn't help asking herself if they knew about the real purpose of SD-6. Did Ginger know? Greg? Marsha? How would Marshall react if he ever found out? Would he feel like her, completely demolished?

Last night, in front of Vaughn, she had managed to stay strong and professional. She was even able to hold her pain inside until she got home. But as soon as she had closed her bedroom door behind her, she had felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. Two seconds later, she was lying on her bed, a pillow over her head, sobbing desperately. It had gone on until her alarm clock went off a few hours later.

She had gotten up, changed and had used about a pound of cover up to remove any sign of her crying.

And now, approaching her desk, she was thinking that maybe the worst thing in all this was the fact that she couldn't talk about it to anyone. Dixon couldn't know. Her father was gone. Francie and Will were obviously not an option either. The only one she could, out of technical necessity, vent her frustrations to was her new handler, Michael Vaughn. He had seemed to genuinely care the previous night, when he had asked her how she felt about the situation… But he was her handler, not her friend. The relationship between a handler and his asset is governed by a clear set of rules. And talking about your personal problems didn't comply with protocol.

"So, Arvin… How are you going to know if Sydney Bristow is working for the CIA or not?"

Nonchalantly playing with a pen, Sloane began:

"Well, Anthony, you probably know how our friend Ineni Hassan recently betrayed our agreement?"

"The arms dealer? Yes, I heard."

"I'm going to seize the opportunity to "faire d'une pierre deux coups", like the French say, or, if you prefer, we'll get revenge over Hassan AND find out if Sydney is really a loyal SD-6 operative, both at the same time."

"Hum… go on," Geiger nodded appreciatively.

"I will send Sydney to Italy to steal Hassan's offshore account numbers from his accountant. For the CIA's benefit, I will order our colleagues at SD-4 to assassinate Sydney right before she takes the plane back here. The CIA will most probably pick up the word on Echelon. If Sydney is in fact a double agent, they will try to extract her. And I'll know."

"Arvin, you are indeed the master of deception," Geiger complimented, grinning.

Sloane smiled too, and Geiger asked:

"What about Jack Bristow?"

Sloane's body tensed up visibly and his gaze became harder than steel before he said slowly:

"I'll find him, whatever it costs me." 

"Hey Syd! Gee, are you okay? You look tired," said a concerned Dixon.

Wasn't it enough that she had to lie to her two best buddies? Did she now have to deceive Dixon, her partner, her friend? The one person she had been completely truthful with over the last 7 years?

"Hi Dixon. Yeah, I didn't sleep too well last night…"

Worried, he asked:

"How come?"

"Well… Haven't you heard?" she said, hesitant. If her father had really been a traitor, she figured she wouldn't go around spreading the news. She would be reluctant to tell the story of his betrayal.

"No… What's going on?"

"Yesterday, I-"

The ringing of Dixon's phone on his desk interrupted her. As she watched him take the call, she wondered how she would manage not to tell him the truth about SD-6. He had the right to know who he was risking his life for, she figured. But knowing the truth would put him in the same delicate situation she was in…

"All right, Sir," Dixon said before hanging up. "Sloane wants to see us in the conference room. Now."

"I thought the meeting was at ten. He's early."

"Seems everyone has arrived and there's no time to waste. Wonder what it is about?"

Sydney didn't reply. Dixon would find out soon enough about Jack.

As they got up and started to walk toward the conference room, she took a deep breath. She was about to face Sloane for the first time since learning the truth, but no trace of self-pity remained.

It was time to begin the fight.

"A few days ago, Agents Dixon and Bristow were able to get a hold of a disc that was supposed to contain the list of the Alliance members. If you remember correctly, another agent, working for Khasinau, was there also. Well, yesterday, thanks to Mr Geiger here, we were able to establish that Agent Vaughn had been tipped by… Jack Bristow."

For a few seconds, there was a stunned silence around the table.

"Wait, you mean… Jack is a mole? He works for Khasinau?", asked Dixon, shocked, before looking at Sydney.

"Yes. We've got proof."

"Where is he now?"

"He fled. But we'll find him.", Sloane stated, shooting Sydney a falsely apologetic look. "Now, we can't let that go unpunished. We have to hit Khasinau as hard as he has hit us by recruiting Jack. And, by a great coincidence, we just learned who supplies weapons to The Man's organisation."

"Who?" Sydney asked.

"His name is Ineni Hassan. And we know exactly where to find his accountant, Giorgio Morelli. Sydney, you will go to Tuscany and steal Hassan's offshore account numbers from Morelli. We are then going to freeze his assets." 

"Sir, you wanted to see me?", said Vaughn as he entered Devlin's office. He was a bit apprehensive about this meeting. How was his boss going to react after Sydney's threats to walk if he didn't become her handler? After all, he hadn't asked anything… But he had to admit he was glad to get to work on this case.

"Yes. Sit down, Agent Vaughn."

Vaughn obeyed.

"Agent Vaughn, you will be Agent Bristow's handler, as per her request."

"Yes, Sir.", replied Vaughn, relieved Devlin hadn't changed his mind.

Devlin continued:

"But I will have Agent Lambert supervise your work. And that's not a piece of information you need to share with Miss Bristow."

Vaughn sighed inwardly. He was going to have to deal with Lambert, which he had never been really fond of. And that was an understatement, to say the least.

"Understood, Sir."

"So, Mike, tell me everything about last night. Did she hit you again?" Weiss teased him.

"Hey, don't you have a yo-yo competition to attend or something?"

"Calm down, buddy, calm down. How did it go with Sydney?"

"Okay. She had some sort of "password accord" with her dad, so she knew right away the tape was genuine."

"Cool."

"Yeah. She then decided to become a double agent…"

Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Really? That's dangerous. Jack wouldn't be happy to hear that! I pity the poor guy who's going to be her handler!"

Vaughn made a face.

"That's me."

"Noooo…"

"Yeah."

"Your planets are probably messed up, man, because your life sucks these days."

"You haven't heard the worst of it all."

"Shoot."

"Devlin got Lambert to supervise me."

"That's awful!"

"I know. The guy may be senior, but he's junior. Trust me."

Sydney was walking out of the meeting, leaving to get ready for her Italian mission, when she heard Dixon coming behind her.

"Syd, wait!"

She stopped and turned around.

"Syd, I… I'm so sorry about Jack… I can't believe he would do such a thing… really… There must be some mistake…"

"Dixon, how else would Vaughn have known about the list?

"I know, but still… What are you going to do?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" he repeated, surprised.

"Yes."

"Syd, I-"

"Listen, I know you're trying to help. But I'm okay. I've got to go home and pack before I leave…"

"Okay. Be careful out there. Seems like an easy mission, but… you never know."

"I know. Thanks Dixon."

She hugged him briefly and walked away. She just couldn't stand lying to him.

A few minutes later, in her car, Sydney dialled a phone number and waited. A man answered and she said:

"Joey's Pizza?"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Vaughn was already waiting for her in the warehouse when Sydney got there. Her stride was fast, assured and Vaughn admired her resilience. If he had been in Sydney's shoes, he would probably still be crying in bed, he thought.

"Hi Sydney," he greeted her with a smile.

"Hi."

On closer look, she seemed tired but as beautiful as ever. Vaughn mentally shook himself. Inappropriate thought for a handler.

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

"I'm fine," she said to avoid further questioning.

Vaughn understood and went on with the business stuff.

"So, how did the meeting with Sloane go?"

"He's sending me on a mission in Tuscany."

Quickly, she detailed the task ahead to him. As soon as she was finished, he gave her the counter mission. She was going to transmit the account numbers to the CIA at the same time she was giving them to SD-6. Nothing fancy.

"Okay, I've got it," she nodded.

"Good."

"Now I've got to go. My plane is leaving in 40 minutes," she explained.

"Then I'll see you when you get back."

"Okay."

She started to walk away, but his voice stopped her.

"Sydney?"

She slowly turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

Her first instinct was to be cynical and think that he was only saying that because the CIA needed to keep its only double agent into SD-6 alive. But something in Vaughn eyes made her think that he really cared.

So her voice was gentle when she answered:

"I will."

For once, Sydney was happy to be swamped with homework to do, because it kept her from thinking about the spy portion of her life. She was almost done with her essay when the plane began its descent.

As she saved her work and turned off her laptop, Sydney's thoughts drifted to Vaughn. He really seemed to care about her well being, and she was kind of surprised about that. After the way she had treated him… Maybe she should try to be nicer to him on their next debrief?

The mission ahead was fairly simple, but it was going to be her first real step into the double agent life. She wasn't afraid, no, but she felt kind of… angry. After all, it was the first task she was going to complete for SD-6 since she learned that they were on the wrong side of the law. She was going to give them the accounts numbers they wanted… and that made her sick.

At least the CIA was going to get them too.

Several hours later, Vaughn and Weiss were sitting in front of a computer, waiting for Sydney's transmission from Tuscany.

"So, have you bought the tickets yet?"

Weiss shook his head vigorously.

"No, I'm still convinced I won the bet."

Vaughn couldn't believe his ears.

"Eric, you dialled her number yourself!"

"Who says this piece of paper really was the one she gave you? You could have forged it…"

"Eric, if the bet had been about a Ferrari or something like that, maybe I would have spent a bit of my time and energy to do such thing. But… come on."

Weiss was about to make a witty comment of his own when the numbers from Hassan's bank accounts began to appear on the screen.

Sydney was transmitting.

Fifteen minutes later, Weiss and Vaughn were about to call it a day when Agent Taylor rushed to their side.

"Guys! Look at this!"

"What is it?"

"Well, to make a long story short, we just picked up the word on Echelon that Sydney Bristow is going to be taken down right before getting on the plane back to LA. That's in 35 minutes."

Vaughn's breath caught in his throat, so Weiss was the one that said:

"What? By whom?"

"By SD-4, but apparently the order came directly from Sloane."

Getting back to his senses, Vaughn instructed:

"Damn! I want a team ready for extraction in 25 minutes. As soon as she gets to the airfield, we're pulling her out."

"Got it," Taylor replied before walking away hurriedly.

"Mike, I'm not sure this is the way to go," said Weiss carefully.

Vaughn looked at his friend incredulously.

"What? We have to do something or we are going to lose her!" he replied vehemently.

Weiss was surprised by the desperation he heard in Vaughn's voice. Of course, the life of his asset was at stake here, but he also knew his friend was usually remarkably calm in any crisis.

"Mike, think about it. Wouldn't it be the perfect way for Sloane to know if Sydney is a double agent or not? Don't you think it's awfully convenient that SD-6 was careless enough to give us the chance to learn about that assassination request?"

"Eric, we can't take that risk. We have to extract her. Now," Vaughn pleaded ardently.

"And bring her on the WPP? From what I gather, she would hate you for it."

Vaughn had a short hesitation that didn't go unnoticed by Weiss, but after a second he replied:

"At least she would live to be angry with me."

Weiss paused a second, knowing full well his friend wasn't going to like what he was about to say.

"Let's call Lambert."

Vaughn's eyes got wider than Eric ever thought possible.

"Are you kidding me?"

"No. He will make the decision."

"Lambert can't even see his big nose in the middle of his ugly face, and now you want to put Sydney's fate in his hands?"

"He's supposed to supervise this case. And you know what? For Agent Bristow's sake, I truly hope he agrees with me, because you can't see clearly. But I think I'm beginning to and we'll need to have a little talk about that later."

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Vaughn, irritated.

Weiss put his hands in front of himself as if to stop the oncoming train of his friend's anger.

"Listen, I can see you care for her. I'm not taking this lightly, Mike. I want her to make it home, too. But just ask yourself… what would Sydney decide, if she could hear us right now?"

Vaughn sighed deeply. Weiss was right. He had to surrender.

"I'm just scared for Sydney. I want her to come back," he said quietly.

Seeing the extreme anxiety in Vaughn's green eyes, Eric put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder and said, his voice as assured as he could possibly make it:

"She will."

Twenty minutes had gone by when Agent Seth Lambert entered the satellite relay station where Vaughn and Weiss were taking care of the extraction team's deployment. Whatever Lambert decided, they would be ready. As usual, Vaughn noticed, the man perspired with self-satisfaction.

"So, gentlemen, what seems to be the problem? You're having a fight?" he said in a condescending tone, looking around in search of approbation from the other agents present.

Weiss, who knew the way Vaughn felt about Lambert, saw his friend's clenched jaw. So, to avoid any trouble, he stepped in and explained the situation.

Lambert rubbed his chin pensively.

"Bristow… Oh yeah, that's the file I got this morning… Let me see…"

Lambert opened the file and whistled.

"Look at her. I wouldn't kick that out of bed," he commented, grinning in Vaughn and Weiss' direction as if they'd agree he had the right to even voice that very thought.

Vaughn felt his blood pressure rise and tried to reason with himself. This arrogant son of a gun wasn't worth getting into trouble for. The thought of what Sydney would do to him before he ever got anywhere near her bed even made Vaughn smile inwardly.

But Vaughn's good intentions flew out the window when Lambert declared:

"We don't do anything. Having a double agent into SD-6 is crucial. We have to take the chance she will get out unharmed."

"What if she gets killed?" Vaughn questioned a bit more fervently than necessary, earning an enquiring look from Weiss.

"She's a double agent. She must know her chances of having grandchildren someday are pretty slim," Lambert replied, chuckling a little.

Vaughn thought he would explode. How could he show that much disregard for Sydney's welfare? He was about to tell the man exactly how he felt about him when Weiss discreetly touched his arm. Vaughn looked at him and understood immediately. His pal had realised how upset he was and didn't want Lambert to also recognise that. But then Vaughn's thoughts paused for a second as a question nagged him: why was he this upset?

"Team, stay put. Don't do anything unless Bristow is shot," Lambert ordered.

Really struggling to contain his anger and resigned to the fact he had lost the war, Vaughn sat down in front of the screen and waited.

In 10 minutes, Sydney was supposed to be at the extraction point.

7 minutes.

4 minutes.

Weiss was sitting next to him, unusually silent.

"Tell me you're not wrong about this, Weiss?" Vaughn suddenly said weakly.

Gazing at his buddy, Eric noticed how pale he was so he put his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not," he said, trying to reassure him.

1 minute.

"There she is," announced Weiss, even though they could all see her on the screen, thanks to the satellite feed.

They watched anxiously as Sydney got closer and closer to the plane. When the pilot suddenly got out to meet her, they held their breath. Weiss was particularly sweaty. What if he had been wrong? Now that it had dawned on him that Vaughn seemed to nurture feelings for Sydney, he knew his friend would never forgive him if something happened to her.

They were unable to take their eyes off the screen until Sydney closed the plane's door behind her.

"She's okay!" Weiss couldn't help but say, feeling immensely relieved. He had managed to keep alive both Sydney and his friendship with Vaughn.

Looking like he had just ran the marathon, Vaughn got up promptly. Weiss stared at him intently, sending him numerous 'we need to talk' looks, but Vaughn dismissed them.

"I've got to go. Alice is waiting for me," he announced curtly before leaving.

On his way home, Vaughn had almost cancelled the date he had with Alice that night. They were supposed to go to the movies, but now he felt so drained that all he wanted was to sink into bed. But having not really been around for Alice since his mission in Slovakia, he knew he couldn't cancel without exposing himself to her fury. Sitting in a dark room pretending to watch some silly movie wasn't so terrible after all.

For the twentieth time, Vaughn gazed at the clock. 4:46am. Alice was by his side, sound asleep. She had ended up staying the night, in spite of the fight they had had earlier that evening. After the movie, she had been angry with him because he wasn't paying much attention to what she was saying. He had tried to deny it, but she was right. The thought of what had almost happened still made his heart race. He hadn't been able to relax until he had gotten confirmation, almost an hour ago, that Sydney had safely returned to LA.

But now… why wasn't he able to sleep? After all, Sydney was safe. Maybe the problem came from the conclusions he had seen in Eric's eyes. Obviously, his friend thought the anxiety he felt earlier for Sydney went beyond professional worry.

Could he be right?

Surely all handlers sought to protect the safety of their assets, but Vaughn wondered now if Sydney had ever been just an asset. Initially, she had been Lisa, the gorgeous brunette with the contagious smile. You didn't see smiles like hers everyday. He remembered thinking how beautiful her hair looked, the word 'brown' not being a sufficient description of the colour. Vaughn recalled the lights of the bar had created a soft, bronze shine, which contrasted with the depth of her dark eyes.

Vaughn had to admit; her being revealed as Sydney Bristow had done nothing to diminish her beauty. He tried to shrug that off as a matter of fact. Any guy would be crazy not to find her attractive...even if they didn't know how brave and determined she was. She was an incredible woman…

Vaughn suddenly sat upright in his bed. Did he really have feelings for Sydney Bristow?

Alice rolled on her back, disturbed in her sleep. Vaughn went back to a lying position, wondering how deep those feelings could be. He quickly reassured himself: this couldn't be more than a crush that would go away on its own. After all, he barely knew her. But still, there was only one word to describe those feelings: inappropriate.

That fact, added to the way he had almost exposed her tonight, led him to make the decision he knew Sydney wouldn't like.

He was going to resign as her handler. 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

When Sydney woke up the next morning, she found a little note from Francie on her bedside table. She must have put it there the previous evening, but it was so late when Sydney had gotten in from Italy, she had just ran to bed.

The note was saying that Daniel Hecht, the guy Francie had set her up with, had called, wanting to know when Sydney would be free to go out. He was supposed to call back today.

Sydney winced. What had she been thinking when she agreed to that? Now, more than ever, wasn't a good time in her life to hop into a relationship. Yes, she would definitely have to decline his invitation, she thought as she began to get dressed for a new day at work.

She sighed at the thought of the day ahead. She was going to have to endure debriefing at SD-6 first, then at the warehouse for the CIA. Double the work. At least both meetings wouldn't last very long, as the mission in Tuscany had been quick and uneventful.

Today would be her first debrief with Vaughn… It felt strange being now in this position after the way they met. At first he was just this guy, supposedly named Mark, who spoke bad Slovak. She couldn't help but smile at the memory. How cute was he, embarrassed by his mistake? She still couldn't believe she had kissed him. And knocked him out. Twice. She blushed a little recalling those events, but she turned really red when she realised he had flirted with her. Was that for the mission's sake? And what must he think of her now? She had flirted back and had even given him, not only a phone number, but her REAL phone number! She just hoped he would never notice…

It was shortly after 9:00am when Weiss barged into Vaughn's office.

"Hey Mike! How long have you been here?"

"A while," Vaughn answered without looking up from the file he was reading.

"How about our habitual morning coffee? I'll go get two."

"No. Thanks, but I'm not in the mood."

Weiss sat down in front of his friend's desk.

"Is this bad mood in any way related to what happened yesterday?"

Vaughn stayed silent. Eric didn't need any other answer.

"Mike, maybe we should talk about your… about the way you feel toward Sydney Bristow."

Vaughn finally lifted his eyes to meet his friend's.

"There's nothing to talk about, alright?"

"Mike, I think you like her. Am Y wrong?"

The ringing of the phone saved Vaughn. His hand on the handle, he said:

"I have to take this."

"Okay, but we'll have to talk about this later."

Weiss got up and was about to leave when Vaughn called him back:

"Hey Weiss, would you mind coming with me to Agent Bristow's debrief later?"

"What time?"

"6:00pm, at the warehouse."

"I'll be there if you agree to have that talk with me."

Surprisingly, Vaughn nodded.

"Okay."

For once, Sydney was already waiting when Vaughn and Weiss arrived at the warehouse that evening. If she was surprised, Vaughn noticed she didn't let i| show.

His heart beating faster than he would have wanted it to, Vaughn stood in front of Sydney and began:

"Sydney, this is Agent Eric Weiss. He saved your life yesterday. I thought you should meet him."

"Hi," said Weiss as"he shook her hand.

"Hi. You saved my life?" she asked, puzzled.

"Well, I…"

"I'll explain," Vaughn said, looking at an embarrassed Eric. "While you were in Tuscany… we got0the word on Echelon that SD-4, to fulfill Sloane's request, were going to take you down at the airfield."

Sydney was totally taken aback.

"What?"

"Yeah. Since there was no way to contact you, I wanted to have a team in place to extract you as soon as you got there."

Vaughn paused and he and Eric exchanged a meaningful look. Before he could go on, Sydney stated:

"I would have been exposed."

"We would have sent you into the WPP."

"That was Sloane's way of knowing if I was involved with the CIA," she said pensively.

"Exactly."

"Go on."

Vaughn sighed and continued:

"B}t Weiss noticed how convenient it was that we learned about this on Echelon. He realised SD-6 would have you killed only if we did something, only if we tried to protect you. Even Lambert agreed and-"

"Lambert? What does he still have to do with this?" Sydney interrupted, seemingly not too happy.

Vaughn cringed.

"Devlin wants him to supervise my work."

Sydney made a face but said nothing. As long as Vaughn was the one she was in direct contact with, she didn't mind. For now.

"Anyway, Lambert agreed with Weiss. I still didn't want to take that risk. But I had no choice. So we did nothing. And you left Italy unharmed."

Sydney stayed silent for a moment, pondering over that information.

"So I guess now Sloane thinks I'm loyal to SD-6. That means the real work can begin."

"Yes. But not with me."

Both Sydney and Eric looked at him, totally taken by surprise.

"What do you mean, Mike?" Weiss was able to ask after a few seconds.

"I mean I will resign as Sydney's handler. And I will recommend that you replace me."

"Mike, no! Why would you resign?"

"Eric, since I've been assigned to this case I've kept on failing my missions. I've endangered Sydney's life one too many times. I have to quit before it's too late."

Him having inappropriate feelings for his asset being further reason.

"Won't you even bother to ask my opinion?" Sydney asked abruptly.

"My decision is made."

"Agent Vaughn, maybe for you this case is only a temporary assignment, some dossier you have to work on. But my life, my future depends on the work we are doing now. I need someone that I can count on. And I happen to trust you."

"But you shouldn't. Sydney, you would be dead if I had had my way."

"Agent Vaughn, you agreed to be my handler. You can't quit. Not now."

Vaughn was about to reply when his cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID, but did not answer the call. He put it on a nearby crate and continued:

"Sydney, Devlin was right when he chose Lambert to be your handler. I should have-"

His cell phone ringing once again interrupted him. Like a moment before, he looked at the caller ID but didn't answer. Weiss was looking at him curiously, so Vaughn mouthed: "Alice". Why would she be so persistent? She had never done that before. A second later the phone made a little noise indicating he had a message, and Vaughn, having a bad feeling, said:

"I'm just going to take the message. Sorry."

The others nodded and he walked away a few steps, his phone against his ear.

"Agent Weiss, I should thank you for saving my life."

"I was only doing my job…" Weiss replied modestly, cheeks flushed.

"I want Vaughn to remain my handler, but I don't mean I don't want you, I just…"

Weiss shook his head.

"I know. Don't worry about it."

She smiled briefly and glanced at Vaughn who was still on the phone, looking pale.

"Uh, Agent Bristow…?" Eric said, hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

Weiss extracted a yellow piece of paper from his pocket.

"Did you write this?"

Sydney, puzzled, looked at the paper. This was the piece of paper on which she had written her phone number and had given to Vaughn in Slovakia….

"Yes…" she replied, brow furrowed.

She was about to ask why when Vaughn started speaking on the phone.

"Honey? Are you okay? … Oh my god… Yes, I'll be right there. Just… be strong and wait for me, okay? … Bye."

Seeing the look on his friend's face, Weiss asked him:

"What's going on?"

"Alice's father just died. Heart attack," Vaughn answered rapidly.

"Oh, no…"

"I've got to go. Can you finish the debrief?"

"Yes… sure. Tell Alice I'm… I'm sorry for her loss."

"Okay."

Vaughn shot a brief look at Sydney who didn't know what to say and left the warehouse. When she heard the door close behind him, Sydney asked, although she already knew the answer:

"Who's Alice?"

And Weiss replied:

"Mike's girlfriend."

Later that evening, Sydney was sitting in bed, trying to put the finishing touches to her essay, but her thoughts kept drifting to Vaughn. Was he really going to resign?

Just imagining that eventuality, she felt a wave of disappointment washing over her. This couldn't be happening. Having to bring down a worldwide terrorist organisation was hard enough without having to deal with a new handler. Yes, Weiss seemed nice, but from the beginning there had been something in Vaughn's eyes that had led her to believe in him. Led her to believe in the possibility of eradicating all the SD cells.

She couldn't let that happen. Having a handler who actually cared that much about her well being was such a luxury. Looking at him while he was telling her about the Tuscany events, she had still been able to see worry in his eyes. Any other handler might have wanted to risk her life for the CIA's benefit. But not Vaughn. That's why she needed him back. 

Because of these qualities and all those other, more obvious ones, Sydney wasn't surprised he was he was already attached. But, come to think of it, she was more puzzled than ever as to why he had flirted with her in Slovakia. He didn't seem like the type of guy that would go behind his girlfriend's back, but what did she know? After all, she barely knew him…

Her train of thoughts was interrupted when she heard the phone ring. Lazily, she decided to let Francie pick it up. A few seconds later, her friend showed up in her room.

"Syd, this is Danny!" she said, covering the speaker with her hand, all excited.

Sydney had completely forgotten about him. What should she do? Francie would be really mad at her if she didn't go on at least one date with him. Plus… Agent Vaughn was able to juggle having both a professional and a personal life, so why wouldn't she? She made her decision: she would give Danny a chance.

"Hello?" she said, shooting a look at Francie who was sitting on the bed with no intention of missing this conversation.

"Hi, Sydney? This is Daniel Hecht."

"Hi Daniel. How are you?"

"Good. Uh… Francie told me that you might be interested in… well… going out sometime."

"I bet she also said I had no social life?" Sydney joked, wanting to put Danny at ease.

"I guess you don't need to be a super spy to guess that, huh?" he laughed.

He seemed to have a good sense of humour and Sydney liked it.

"Yeah… So, are you free next Saturday night?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact I am. And I was going to ask you if you liked hockey, because a friend of mine just gave me two tickets to the Kings' game."

"Well, I'm no hockey expert, but that sounds fun!"

"Great! So I'll pick you up at… six, Saturday night?"

"Okay. See you then!"

"Bye!"

Sydney hung up and gazed at Francie.

Her friend was beaming.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The next day was really busy for Weiss, who was covering for Vaughn, off from work for the next few days. Tired, he glanced at his watch. 4:14pm. He rubbed his eyes, thinking how this day would never end. He was only halfway through some three inches thick document he really had to read before going home. He sighed. He shouldn't be complaining. Vaughn's day had probably been a hundred times worse than his. Just as that thought crossed his mind, Vaughn entered his office.

"Hey man! What are you doing here?" Weiss said, surprised.

Vaughn looked awful, with the purple bruise on his head, the dark circles under his eyes and his 30-hours stubble.

"I just came by the office to get some work. I can get a few things done while Alice is asleep," he said with a tired voice.

"How is she?"

Vaughn sighed.

"Not good. She was very close to her dad."

"That sucks… When is the funeral taking place?"

"Tomorrow," Vaughn answered wearily.

"So… I bet we can say goodbye to that hockey game Saturday night, huh?"

Vaughn's first impulse was to agree with his friend, but then he realised that taking Alice out could be a good idea.

"Well… Alice likes to go to a Kings' game. Maybe it would take her mind off things if we took her along."

Weiss nodded.

"Listen, Mike, I give up. You won the bet. In spite of your pitiful pick up lines," he smirked. "I'll buy three tickets."

Vaughn was too tired to enjoy his victory. He only nodded and said:

"I'll pay for hers…"

Weiss shook his head.

"No need to. Just take care of the beer."

A wry smile flashed across Vaughn's face.

"Knowing you, I think it would be cheaper to pay for the ticket!"

Sitting at her desk, supposedly reading some intel about a new terrorist group, Sydney was lost in her thoughts. She was thinking about how the day had gone so far. Seeing Arvin Sloane act like her second dad after he had ordered a hit on her in Tuscany almost made her want to throw up. She despised the man with all her being. At least now he was convinced she was a loyal operative. She smiled at the idea. Poor little Arvin, you don't know what's coming your way, she thought.

Suddenly, her cell phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, she didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?"

"Joey's Pizza?"

"Wrong number," she said nonchalantly.

"Sorry, missy," said the man, which caused Sydney to flinch.

That voice wasn't Vaughn's, but that didn't mean he had really resigned, did it? He had probably taken a few days off because of his girlfriend's dad. Could it have been Weiss?

She got her answer when she entered the warehouse that night. A tall, pot bellied man was standing in front of her, a grin plastered on his unpleasant face.

"Where's Vaughn?" she said right away.

"He took a few days off, so I'm taking over. I'm Agent Lambert," the man said, extending his hand.

She didn't move.

"That's what I was afraid of."

Lambert stared at her in mild shock, bewildered. What? An asset showing disrespect for their superior? The poor girl must be suffering from her PMS, he thought.

Like nothing had happened, Lambert put his hand back into his pocket, playing with the coins there, before restarting:

"I want you to know that you're going to like working with me." 

"Really," she replied coldly.

Lambert went on. 

"Must have been uh… I almost don't know how to say it… devastating when your father had to go into hiding. And now you don't even know if he's still alive. But I want you to know, you can trust me. I understand. I empathise." 

What was that about? Some middle-aged guy, who knew nothing about her life or her relationship with her father, was telling her he empathised. What did he know about the way she felt? The biggest drama in his life had probably been the day his hairline had started to recede.

Containing her resentment, she said:

"Mr Lambert, I got your message. Is there a reason I'm here?" 

"I just wanted to introduce myself. Grab a little face time with my girl. I just wanted to make sure you don't have any queries I might be able to-"

With his crass comments and condescension continuing, Sydney felt her growing anger starting to bite. Cutting him off, she said:

"I've got a query." 

Lambert seemed pleased.

"Yeah, shoot." 

"Are you insane?" she exploded, whilst still managing to speak succinctly and in a controlled manner. "Calling me in here for a social event. SD-6 has a division whose sole responsibility it is to track their agents and report back suspect activity. Your girl is risking her life and you yours, every time we lay eyes on each other. So do me a favour, don't be so friendly." 

Lambert was taken aback by this outburst, unused to being spoken to in that way, particularly by a young, female agent he clearly had underestimated.

He closed his open mouth and swallowed, but his male pride prevented him from acknowledging her outburst in any other way:

"I, I just love your spirit." 

"That's heartening. Are we done here?" Sydney replied dismissively.

"Yeah, we're all done." 

"Okay."

She took two steps but then stopped and turned to face him.

"I think you are mistaken Agent Lambert, I'm not going to like working with you. If something comes up in the next couple of days, then send Weiss. I've already made it clear who I want as my handler, tell Devlin he won't get another chance."

Not waiting for Lambert to react, Sydney quickly walked away, irritated. She had to talk to Vaughn to convince him to stay and fast.

She sighed, remembering why he had taken a few days off. He probably had enough to deal with right now. She decided to give him until Monday.

Not one day more.

Luckily for everyone, the rest of the week went by uneventfully. Sydney even got her whole Saturday off, something that hadn't happened in a long, long time.

That was nice, because it had given her the whole day to prepare for her date with Danny. Francie had insisted on doing her nails and had supervised the choosing of the perfect outfit. She had almost begged Sydney to give a real chance to Daniel, which she had agreed to half-heartedly. After the fiasco with Noah, all those years ago, she wasn't sure she was ready to be in a relationship again. Love stories weren't compatible with the spy life, so she believed…

But as soon as she met with Danny that evening, she forgot all about her job. He was an interesting, charming and funny medical student who respected her boundaries. They had joked all the way to their seats and were now waiting for the game to begin.

"So the guys in the black and purple shirts are the Kings," Danny teased when the players jumped on the ice for the national anthem.

"I know that, Daniel!" she exclaimed, chuckling.

"Call me Danny."

"I know that, Danny."

"They are the ones we are rooting for," he went on to explain, grinning.

"Oh, really? That's good to know," she laughed, playing along.

Well, maybe this wouldn't lead to anything serious, but at least, for once, she would have a little fun…

"Honey, Eric and I will go get some hot-dogs before the game begins. Would you like something?"

Alice took a second to think.

"Uh… A slice of pizza. And a bottle of water. Please."

"Okay, we'll be right back," Vaughn said. He and Eric got up and took a few steps toward to end of their row before Alice called him back.

"Michael?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful on the stairs, honey…" she said, and Weiss wasn't sure if she was teasing him or really worried.

The guys walked away and, when they were far enough, Weiss asked:

"Why did she say that?"

Vaughn pointed at the giant bruise on his face.

"Because of this."

"That's how you explained the bruise? You said you fell in the stairs?"

"Yeah. Wasn't going to say I had been beaten up by a girl…"

They erupted into laughter, which stopped abruptly two seconds later.

There, sitting by the stairs, was Sydney Bristow.

The threesome exchanged surprised looks, but Vaughn and Weiss regained their senses quickly and continued to climb the stairs.

But Sydney wasn't going to let this occasion pass her by. She had to find a way to set up a meeting with Vaughn.

"Danny? I'm just going to the washroom, okay? I'll be back in a minute."

"Okay. Do you know where it is?"

"I'll find my way, don't worry…"

She gave him a big dimpled smile and hurried to follow the guys though keeping a safe distance between them. When they reached the food stands, Vaughn and Weiss went their own way: Vaughn went for pizza while Eric got in line for the beer. Sydney walked up to Vaughn and stood behind him.

"All there seems to be here is a Pizza Hut. I wished they had a Joey's Pizza here…" she said loudly enough for him to hear.

He turned around, question marks in his eyes.

"You think it's better? I don't."

She looked at him intensely. He had to understand what she was trying to do. She was trying to set up a meeting with him at the warehouse. Tonight. She had to convince him to stay as her handler.

"Yes, I do. Sometimes I wake up at 2 am and just have to order one of their Joey's Specials, don't you?"

He paused before replying:

"No, not really."

"You must be kidding me."

"No."

"You should try it one more time."

Vaughn sighed.

"You're persistent… Okay, I will. But don't expect me to change my mind."

"At least you will have tried," she said with a small smile before heading to the washrooms, leaving behind a conflicted Vaughn.

As Vaughn went down the narrow stairs to retake his seat, he saw Sydney and Danny in front of him, laughing. He paused and observed them for a second, unnoticed. Sydney's companion was a brown-haired, tall man that women would probably qualify as 'handsome'. Was that guy her boyfriend? They seemed to get along well. No touching though. Maybe they were just old friends, or cousins?

As Vaughn passed her and Danny on the stairs, Sydney couldn't help from discreetly follow him with her eyes. She saw him take a seat and give a water bottle to a blond woman sitting next to him. Could that be Alice? She had short hair and seemed kind of nice looking, but didn't she seem a bit older than Vaughn?

"I had fun," Sydney said when they reached her doorstep later that night.

Danny smiled, obviously relieved.

"Me too. Maybe we could do this again? Or something more… girlie, if you wish."

"Girlie?" she laughed.

"Yeah, like… going to a play, or the ballet…" he smirked.

"Okay, I'll try to figure out something."

"Great. Goodnight, Sydney."

He took a step forward and hugged her, lingering just a second longer than required. Sydney smiled.

"Goodbye, Danny."

When Sydney got to the warehouse that night, Vaughn had already arrived. He was sitting on a crate, fighting sleep. Poor guy, Sydney thought. If his girlfriend was experiencing half the pain she had felt when her own mother died, he must be having a real hard time consoling her. No wonder he looked that drained.

She opened the gate and their eyes locked. He smiled weakly at her and got up.

"How's… is it Alice? Hope she didn't mind you leaving in the middle of the night," she said kindly.

"I told her I had to get a few things at my place. If she wakes up before I come back she'll probably think I just fell asleep over there… What did you tell your boyfriend?"

"He's not… That was only our first date," she said before wondering why she had felt the need to explain.

"Oh."

An awkward silence fell between the two. Was discussing their private lives commonplace among handlers and their assets? Sydney let a few seconds go by before she begun:

"You have to remain my handler."

"Sydney, I told you this was a bad idea."

"You're wrong," she stated firmly.

"Oh, I'm wrong?" Vaughn questioned incredulously with a furrowed brow. Even though he was really tired, he had agreed to this meeting in order to be nice to her. And now she was acting like a 'know-it-all' teenager? He certainly didn't need that at the moment. 

"Yes," Sydney asserted, not realising he was slightly offended. 

"Therefore you must be right?"

"Yes, I am. Listen-"

Vaughn, arms crossed on his chest, decided this was a bit much. Who did she think she was? 

"Are you aware of the fact that I'm your superior? You can't keep pushing the CIA around, Miss Bristow. You're not the one that makes the decisions." 

"What?" she exclaimed in bewilderment, but he continued: 

"I mean, why would you want me anyway...?" 

"Agent Vaughn..." she tried to gain his attention, beginning to recognise their misunderstanding. 

"... if I'm so WRONG," he emphasised, rambling as the stress and fatigue of the last few days looked to escape. 

"Vaughn..." Sydney said louder. 

"You'll be much better off with Weiss." 

"They didn't give me Weiss, Devlin sent me Lambert," she almost shouted at him.

Taken by surprise, Vaughn was silenced. He could only manage, "Oh." 

"Yeah and it didn't go well."

Slowly, a lopsided smile formed on Vaughn's face. He was glad she seemed to despise Lambert as much as he did.

"It didn't?" 

"No," she confirmed with her own knowing smile.

Seeing that he was now listening, Sydney saw her chance to start again:

"Listen, about Tuscany… You only had my best interests at heart. You wanted me to be safe. I need to thank you for that."

"Sydney…" he sighed.

"Vaughn, please. Stay. I'll behave," she teased.

He was going to refuse once again when he realised how hard it must be for her, being such a proud person, to practically beg him to stay. This woman was going through hell. He couldn't let her down.

He sighed once more in surrender.

"Okay."

She smiled, trying to contain her joy and relief.

"Great. So… I'll see you soon."

"Yes," he confirmed with a small smile.

Walking past him, she somehow lost her balance and stepped on his foot.

"Oh, sorry!" she apologized.

"If you keep hurting me we'll never be friends," he joked, a huge, more relaxed smile on his face.

She didn't need to say anything to that. She could see from his easy expression that they had reached an understanding tonight. So she smiled too and walked away, her heart feeling lighter than it had some minutes earlier.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

When Sydney woke up the next morning, she was in a very good mood. First of all, it was Sunday and so far she was off. It was something she had learned to really appreciate since it didn't happen that often.

Second of all, the date with Danny had gone well, more than she was expecting considering she had been a bit reluctant to go. Yes, she had fun. She hadn't been swept off her feet, but she had a nice evening and would probably call him again. But what a coincidence it had been to see Vaughn and Weiss at the game!

Sydney smiled. She was glad she had been able to convince Vaughn to stay as her handler. That would be the third reason she had waken up with a smile on her face.

She suddenly heard noise in the kitchen and remembered it was SSMD… Fran's abbreviation for Spaghetti Sauce Making Day. Not sure Sydney could be there to help her, Fran had enlisted Will to help her. Sydney smiled at the thought. Will was probably in a foul mood about having to wake up that early… Maybe she should just get up and help them?

She hurriedly got up, put on some sweats and an old t-shirt and headed to the kitchen. Too late. Will and Fran were already arguing.

"These carrots are for the sauce!"

"Just one, Fran! It won't even make a difference. I haven't had breakfast!"

"Hey guys!" exclaimed Sydney.

Both her friends turned to face her. Fran looked particularly happy to see her.

"Girl! Come on, spill!"

"About what?" asked Will, eating his carrot, completely lost.

"She had a date last night!"

"A date? With whom?" he asked, puzzled.

Sydney hesitated for a second, not knowing how to talk about her date without hurting Will. She had known for quite some time that his feelings for her went deeper than friendship. Unfortunately for him, he was more like a brother to her and she knew that would never change.

She finally opened her mouth to say something but Francie was faster.

"I hooked her up with Daniel Hecht. He's a medical student. He was at that Halloween party last year, remember? The guy in a surgeon's outfit…"

"Oh, yeah, I remember. Very original for a wannabe doctor," Will mumbled.

Francie shot him a dark look but focused back on Sydney.

"Anyway, how did it go?"

"Pretty good. We had fun."

"And…?"

"And what?"

"Did he kiss you?"

"Nooo… We just hugged, Miss Nosy."

"Are you going to see him again?" Will asked, staring intensely at his carrot.

"Yeah, I think so…"

"But how will you find the time to see him? You're always away on some business trip…" he continued resentfully.

Francie immediately reacted to his comment.

"Will you cut her some slack? I'm so glad she's finally gotten a man!"

"Of course, if it means you are going to entertain us for years with the story of how you matched them up!"

"That's not true! Don't you know how I-"

They suddenly stopped when they saw Sydney walk away, heading for the front door. She had had enough of the bickering.

"Syd! Where are you going?" Will wondered.

"I'm going for a run," she answered before opening the door. She hadn't closed it before Francie and Will were going at it again.

"Pffff… Can we take a break?"

Vaughn couldn't believe his ears.

"Eric, we've hardly been running for five minutes!"

"I know, but… uh… I think I hurt my foot."

"What?"

"Look, there's a bench right there. We'll just stop for two minutes, okay?"

Vaughn rolled his eyes.

"Okay."

"Good."

Weiss sat down and patted the space beside him.

"Sit down, bud."

Vaughn made a face but obeyed.

"Okay, what was that about?" asked Weiss using a confidential tone.

"What?"

"Resigning as Sydney Bristow's handler."

Vaughn sighed, as he suddenly understood Weiss' plan. Talking about Sydney. He had wondered what in the world had gotten into his friend that Sunday morning to call him and ask to go running in his company. At first he had been surprised, but then, having noticed his pal had put on some weight in the last months, he thought Eric just wanted to get back in shape. Of course he would help him to do so. That was what friends were for.

What a fool he had been. Now he was stuck here, having to answer Weiss' questions about his new asset. That was probably the last thing he wanted to do right now. Before seeing Sydney at the hockey game, he had agreed to talk with Eric about what had happened in Tuscany, thinking he was going to resign anyway. But now that he was staying, admitting he had some feelings for Sydney Bristow was out of the question.

"I'm staying," he stated.

Eric raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"What? How come?"

"Sydney convinced me to stay. Last night, at the warehouse."

Eric contemplated that piece of information for a moment before asking:

"Any particular reason you made that decision?"

"I really don't know why, but she seems to trust me. I couldn't let her down."

"Huh. Any OTHER reason?"

"What are you trying to make me say? You seem to think I'm nourishing some feelings for Sydney… Which I don't."

"Come on, Mike. You should have seen yourself when she entered that airfield. I've never seen a handler worry that much for his asset. I've never seen YOU worry that much about anybody. Just admit it. You have a crush on her."

Vaughn sighed. He hadn't planned on telling his friend the truth about his feelings for Sydney, as insignificant as they were. He knew this 'crush', as Eric had put it, would pass. Meanwhile, he was convinced he could totally handle it. He thought it wasn't even worthy of mentioning to Weiss. If he did, if he told someone about those feelings, they would be 'out there', and that would only cause problems. But he also knew that his pal wouldn't let this go. So he better tell him something. Anything.

"Obviously she is an attractive woman," Vaughn begun.

"Obviously."

"But that's it."

"Really?"

Vaughn sighed again, letting a bit of exasperation show.

"I may want to protect her, too. She doesn't have many people in her corner. Plus she is our only chance to bring down a major terrorist organisation. Our best bet is to keep her alive."

Weiss stared at him, evidently not buying a word of it. But he chose to let it go for now.

"No more than that?"

"No," Vaughn stated firmly. "Can we go now? Alice and I are supposed to go to her mom's today."

"Okay. But no more running. I'm too old for this."

"Hey Dixon! Did you have a nice weekend?" Sydney asked her partner when she sat down beside him in the conference room the following morning. Dixon greeted her with a warm smile.

"Hey Syd! Yeah, I did. Diane and I took the kids to the Santa Barbara zoo. Did you know there was a crooked neck giraffe there?"

"Yeah, I-" Sydney began, but she stopped herself when her boss entered the room. Sloane immediately distributed black files to everyone present and explained:

"On page one, you'll find a reproduction of a drawing made back in the 15th century by a man named Milo Rambaldi. From what we've learned, Rambaldi was a scientist, architect and artist, but also a prophet of sorts."

"A prophet?" Dixon wondered.

Sloane nodded.

"Yes. It seems he foresaw the modern age. He was designing machines centuries before that particular twinkle appeared in anyone else's eye. We know that, scattered around the world, are dozens of Rambaldi artefacts and that if they are combined, they form some kind of device."

"What does this device do?" Sydney enquired.

Marshall got up uncertainly, looking at Sloane, waiting for his permission. Which he got.

"We don't know. Uh, well, we suspect it could be a weapon capable of massive destruction, but, uh, well… We're not sure." 

He sat down and Sloane went on:

"Rambaldi has become a priority for us, we want to learn what it is before anyone else does. So Dixon, Sydney, you're going to a Madrid vault to steal a lockbox containing a Rambaldi sketch with what appears to be digital code written on the back. There actually are two sketches, which, when seen together, reveal the entire code. We already have the first sketch and the first half of the sequence code. However, you should know that K-Directorate is also after the second sketch, so be careful. That will be all."

The briefing was over.

"I have a feeling we may soon have the pleasure of meeting again with our old friend Anna Espinosa", Dixon said sarcastically as he got up.

"Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me…" Sydney replied as she gathered her things.

She and Dixon got out of the conference room and then went their separate ways, both needing to get ready for their upcoming mission. Sydney hurried to the parking garage. She had to get home to pack, but also to tell Vaughn about her mission. Back when she had met with him before going to Tuscany, he had set up a way of telling him about her assignments. She was to connect onto the Internet and log into a certain discussion board. From there, she would send a personal message to someone nicknamed 'Boy Scout' and detail her mission, without of course forgetting to erase all traces of that message from her computer afterwards. Then she would get the 'Joey's Pizza call' signalling her to meet with her handler.

"Hey," Vaughn said as he entered the warehouse later that morning.

"Hi," Sydney replied, getting up from the crate where she had been sitting, waiting for him.

Vaughn wasted no time and began:

"Devlin wants you to follow through on Sloane's orders. Apparently, we're both after the same missing piece of code."

Sydney was stunned.

"You're kidding me." 

"Nope," Vaughn replied, tempted to smile at Sydney's amazement. 

"You already knew about Rambaldi?" she questioned.

"I didn't. The agency did. DaVinci meets Nostradamus. Personally, I don't buy it."

"Well, tell the CIA clerk in Barcelona to prep for a dead drop. Worst case I'll encrypt the code on a Radiohead MP3 and leave it on Audiogalaxy."

"How did Russian underground find out about Rambaldi?" Vaughn asked, curious.

"Hey, you're the intel guy."

He smiled briefly and asked:

"What can you tell me about this woman? Anna Espinosa?"

Sydney's jaw clenched.

"She was born in Cuba, raised in Russia. One of the last of the Cold War babies, go-to officer at K-Directorate for work and active measures. About a year ago, I had a meeting with an informant in Yugoslavia. Low level, just a guy with intel who needed the money. Anna recorded the entire conversation with a parabolic mike from the building next door." 

"How do you know?"

"Because as I was shaking his hand to leave, she blew the back of his skull with a sniper rifle, even though she got what she came for. Her way of telling me I was out of my league," Sydney explained, disgusted.

"Be careful," Vaughn couldn't help but to say. 

"Yeah. Anything else?"

"No, just… How was your weekend?" he asked with a shy smile.

Sydney was a bit surprised by the question but answered:

"Great. I actually got to spend time with Francie and Will," she said, realising at the same time that Vaughn had no idea who they were. She was about to explain but Vaughn was quicker.

"Will… is he the guy you were with Saturday night?"

She didn't know why, but she felt kind of uncomfortable to tell him about Danny.

"Uh, no… that was Danny. Francie is my best friend and roommate and Will is… well, my other best friend."

"Oh… How strange is it that we met at the hockey game, huh?"

"Yeah. So you and Weiss are friends?" she asked politely.

"Yes. We go back to college…"

Sydney acknowledged the answer by nodding, and then a question came to her mind:

"Well… Maybe you can tell me… When I meet Weiss the other day, he showed me the piece of paper where 'Lisa' had written her supposed phone number…" she said, not able to stop herself from blushing recalling that moment. She was embarrassed, but she went on: "… and asked me if that was my handwriting. Do you know why? I was wondering…"

"He asked you that?"

Vaughn was surprised at his friend's guts. So that was why Eric had finally given up about their gamble. He didn't have any other option… He silently cursed his friend. Now he had to tell Sydney about that stupid bet…

"Uh… Well… He probably wanted to be sure it really was your handwriting, because… well… we sort of… sort of had a bet," he blurted out.

Sydney raised an eyebrow.

"What? A bet?"

"Back in Slovakia… If I were to get a girl's phone number despite my supposedly bad pick up lines, he was going to take me to a Kings game."

"Bad pick up lines?" she repeated, amused.

"Yeah. Weiss doesn't think too highly of the way I approach women," he said, chuckling.

"I see… 'Lisa' gave you her number, so I guess you won?"

"Yeah…"

Sydney didn't say anything for a moment. Following Vaughn's revelation, part of her felt a bit disappointed. He had flirted with her because of… a bet. Not because he liked her. But it was better this way. Now that she knew she wouldn't feel so awkward when thinking about their first meeting. Plus she understood that he technically hadn't been cheating on Alice when he had flirted with her, and that was a good point on his behalf.

Smiling, she said:

"Well I have to agree with Eric: asking for the time isn't exactly original! But the turtle thing saved you. It was cute."

Vaughn smiled too and nodded. He couldn't deny the fact that 'Mark' hadn't really been creative! So he added nothing and Sydney didn't either. After one last teasing smile, she walked away. Vaughn followed her with his eyes, thinking how enjoyable Sydney Bristow's company could be when she dropped the agent's façade.

And he prayed she would come back safely.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It was now Wednesday night and Michael Vaughn was sitting at home, in front of his computer, waiting for a sign from Sydney. Upon her return from Madrid, she was supposed to log in and send him a message telling him if the mission had succeeded.

12:14am. She would probably be home shortly. Well, that is if nothing bad had happened in Spain… He felt the anxiety rise in his throat. No, no, Mike. Think positive.

He grabbed the beer that was warming up on the table and took a sip. He winced. It tasted awful. He really didn't feel like having a beer tonight, but had opened one anyway. Alice didn't drink at all and, out of respect, he rarely had alcohol in her presence. Tonight, after spending the last week or so at Alice's apartment, he just had to 'celebrate'. Now that she felt better, he had gladly moved back into his own apartment, maybe afraid that Alice wouldn't let him go if he stayed with her any longer than necessary. He wanted to avoid discussing the matter at all costs, certain he didn't want to move in with Alice. They had tried at some point, years ago, but that had led to their first… or was it their second break-up?

Vaughn swallowed some more beer and grimaced again. Where was their relationship going? He knew for sure that he would never marry her. He could never vow to spend eternity with a woman who didn't even know how he spent his days. He was lying to himself, as well as to her, when pretending this liaison was working. So what was the point?

12:17. He yawned. He should have been sleeping, but he already knew that he would never be able to when Sydney was in the field. He better get used to sleepless nights… He smirked; thinking how it was lucky that he didn't have any cardiac problems, because the stress he had been experiencing since meeting Sydney Bristow would probably have killed him by now. Yes, his life would probably have ended in that satellite relay station the other day, he joked to himself. He had never been in a more stressful situation… All traces of amusement disappeared when he remembered that Weiss had interpreted that anxiety as a sign of inappropriate attachment.

That was a road he really didn't feel like going down tonight. Forcing himself to think about something else, Vaughn refreshed the page for the hundredth time. At last, he had a message from 'Freelancer'. Nervous and relieved at the same time, he clicked on it.

"We got the lockbox, but we can't open it. Our tech guy will look at it in the morning. I'll contact you when I know more."

Vaughn exhaled loudly, feeling like a thousand pounds had been lifted off his shoulders. The mission had been a success. Seeing she was still online, he typed his response:

"Okay. Now get some rest. Goodnight, Freelancer."

"Goodnight, boss," she replied.

He smiled and disconnected.

Twenty-four hours later, Sydney and Vaughn met at the warehouse. For the first time since they had begun to meet here, Sydney wasn't wearing work clothes. Vaughn was surprised, but, thinking about it, he realised it would seem less suspicious to the Security Section, if they ever spotted her, to see her go out at this late hour wearing cargo pants and a t-shirt rather than a suit. He wondered if that was the reason she had dressed that way, or if it just meant she was getting more comfortable with him. Either way, he liked seeing her looking more natural. More like herself.

Going back in handler mode, Vaughn cleared his throat and began:

"How did it go in Madrid?"

"Well, I ran into Anna, but I finally got the better of her and grabbed the lockbox."

Although worried retrospectively, Vaughn couldn't help but feel proud of his asset.

"Good work."

Sydney smiled. She had to admit that it was nice to hear the appreciation in Vaughn's voice.

"Thanks. The problem is that we can't open the case. Marshall says that if he forces it open, a concealed piece of technology inside it will destroy the sketch. We need the key."

"Do you know where it is?"

"It seems that K-Directorate has it. Sloane thinks it would be too difficult to get the key out of the K-Directorate's office. Since the Russians don't know that there are actually two sketches, Sloane has arranged that Anna and I meet tomorrow night in the middle of a stadium in Berlin. I'll bring the case and Anna the key and we'll open the case together."

"How will SD-6 ensure you safety?" Vaughn asked, feeling his forehead creasing.

"Both SD-6 and K-Directorate will have positioned snipers in the stadium, in case of a double-cross," replied Sydney reassuringly, aware of his concern for her. That was something she had never seen in Sloane's eyes. She realised how grateful she was to have met the man standing in front of her. Yes, he really was more pleasant to work with than her SD-6 boss. A lot cuter, too.

"Good." Vaughn said, slightly relieved. "So… I'll provide you with a wire and you'll give us the code, too."

"Okay," she agreed, suppressing a yawn.

Vaughn noticed and smiled.

"When does your plane leave?"

"8:00am."

"Okay. Tomorrow morning, 7:00am, before going inside the Credit Dauphine building… There is a newspaper stand right on the corner; you know which one I'm talking about?"

"Yes, but how do you know?" she wondered.

"I read your father used to meet his handler there from time to time."

"Oh."

"So, go buy a newspaper. I'll be there and we'll make a brush pass. I'll give you the comm. link."

"Got it."

"Now go ahead. I'll wait."

She shook her head.

"You're always the one who waits before leaving. I'll wait."

"My job is to make sure you are at the top of your capabilities. You're tired. Go home."

"What would you say if we took turns?" she suggested.

"That sounds good. But starting next time. Now go."

Sydney surrendered, smiling.

"Okay, then. See you in the morning."

Vaughn nodded.

"Yeah."

The next morning, as Sydney was getting an apple to eat on her way to her meeting with Vaughn, Francie entered the kitchen.

"Syd? What are you doing up this early? Are you going on another trip?" she asked, disapproval written all over her face.

"Yes."

"Oh, Syd…" Francie sighed. "When are you coming back?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Do you have plans with Danny for this weekend?"

"No…"

Francie was torn between desperation and resentment. She had been the one approaching Danny, asking him to meet with Sydney. Now her friend was letting both her and Danny down.

"Did you call him at all since last Saturday?" she asked reproachfully.

Sydney was almost embarrassed to answer. If only she could tell her friend about the week she'd had!

"No, I haven't had time."

"Syd…"

"I'll call him, Fran. As soon as I get back," Sydney said, grabbing her bag and taking a step toward the door.

"Can't you call him from the plane?"

"Okay."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

"Good. Invite him to Paula's Halloween party next weekend. It will be fun."

"I will," she answered as she opened the front door.

"Good. I'll find you a costume. That way you won't have any excuse to back off!"

"Yeah, bye Fran!"

She closed the door behind her and hurried to her car, hoping there wouldn't be too much traffic.

7:09am. She was late. Walking quickly, she finally reached the newsstand and headed to the magazine section. She might as well get a few titles to entertain her during the upcoming flight. She grabbed a copy of Martha Stewart's Living and pretended to read the summary. Carefully, she scanned the area to find Vaughn.

There he was, looking at some hockey magazines. Studying him, Sydney's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

He was wearing the same clothes he had on when she had first met him. When he pretended to be 'Mark'. Dark suit, blue shirt, tousled hair… She noticed her knees felt unexpectedly weak as she re-experienced the attraction she had felt on October first…

She must have been staring with her mouth opened or something, because a woman suddenly came up to her and whispered:

"Some piece of meat, huh?" she said with a naughty smile.

Feeling her cheeks flush, Sydney could only nod. The woman walked away and she tried to focus on something other then her handsome handler. Her eyes fell on some business magazine. The man on the cover reminded her of her father and instantly an immense wave of sadness submerged her. Why did her father and herself have to end up being spies? Why did her mother have to die at such a young age? Why couldn't she have a normal life?

Sydney exhaled, trying to regain control. It was now time to get the wire from Vaughn. Heading to the cash register, she rapidly brushed past him and she felt a warm hand giving her what felt like a lipstick. The wire would be concealed inside it. She knew the drill.

At the counter, she opened her purse to get some money and dropped the wire inside it. Raising her eyes, she saw Vaughn giving her a heart-warming smile before leaving the newsstand.

As she paid for her magazine, all she could think of was how she couldn't wait to return to more of those smiles.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Sydney was sitting comfortably in her plane seat, staring at her cell phone. She knew she should call Danny right now and fulfill her promise made to Francie.

But something was holding her back.

She was hesitant as to whether or not she should get into a relationship with someone, especially someone who wouldn't be 'in the business'. The idea of adding one more person to the already too long list of loved ones she had to lie to, was just dispiriting.

But her last lover, Noah, had been a spy and things had ended really painfully, when he had left without even saying goodbye. Relationships involving two spies were complicated too… Maybe there was no easy option?

Yes, Danny was really nice, but she was having trouble focusing on their relationship. She was so busy… Having a normal life really seemed unattainable to her right now, although their date had been one of the few moments when she had felt like herself lately.

That fact was good enough reason for Sydney to dial Danny's number. He answered almost immediately.

"Hello?"

"Danny? It's Sydney."

"Hey, Sydney, how are you?"

"Good. Busy. I'm actually on a plane to London."

"Oh, really? Going shopping, I hope?" he said, chuckling a little.

"I wish! No, it's for work. But I'll be back tomorrow morning, so… I'm free for the evening, if you'd like to do something…"

"Yeah, of course I would! But I'm working at the hospital that night… My shift only begins at 10:00pm, though. We could go to dinner," he suggested. Sydney could actually hear the smile in his voice. She felt relieved.

"I'd like that."

"Great! What kind of food do you like?"

"Anything."

"Well then, I'll make reservations and I'll pick you up at 6:00pm, okay?"

"Wonderful."

"Okay. Take care of yourself, Sydney. I can't wait to see you again," he said quietly, now sounding serious.

Sydney was a bit taken aback. She liked him, but she wasn't ready to put herself 'out there' like he had just done.

"Yeah, uh, okay. Goodbye, Danny!"

He said goodbye and she hung up.

Once again, Vaughn and Weiss were reunited in a CIA control room, waiting for Sydney to give them the code. Feeling apprehensive, Vaughn was looking intently at the positioned snipers in the stadium; hoping one of them wouldn't make a rash judgement and a fatal error.

Weiss was in a much lighter mood.

"Well, this is my idea of a Friday night. Watching two spies open a 600 hundred years old case, hoping to find some 600 hundred years old secret code inside it… Like THAT's going to happen."

"Pretty hard to believe, huh?" Vaughn replied, his eyes finally leaving the screen.

"Yes. A huge waste of time and energy, if you want my opinion. I bet you-"

The word 'bet' triggered an unpleasant memory for Vaughn.

"Oh, wait, a bet? That reminds me of something I've been meaning to tell you."

"Go ahead, buddy."

"How could you be stupid enough to ask Sydney about that phone number she gave me!?" Vaughn exclaimed, irritated.

"Oh, uh, did she talk to you about that?" said Weiss, avoiding his friend's gaze but trying to sound detached.

"Yes and I had to tell her about that frigging bet!"

"Oops. Sorry… But I really had to be sure, you know… uh… oh! There she is!"

On the screen, they could see Sydney walking to the centre of the stadium to meet Anna. Two seconds later, her voice resonated in their ears.

"Who am I talking to?"

"Your invisible friend," replied Vaughn, grinning, suddenly in a much better mood.

Weiss rolled his eyes.

"Good. Where are you?"

"Satellite relay station back in LA, watching you from a two hundred mile orbit."

"My guardian angel."

Vaughn's face was illuminated by a huge smile. Weiss looked at his friend suspiciously. Was he blushing? Yeah, of course she wasn't anything more than a regular asset to him. This woman only had him totally wrapped around her little finger…

Weiss turned his attention back to the screen when he heard Sydney say to Anna:

"Do you have the key?"

Anna nodded and pointed at her neck.

Then both spies kneeled down on the ground. Sydney put the case down, but didn't let go of it until Anna got the key from around her neck. She inserted it inside the lock but didn't turn it.

She raised her eyes to look at Sydney and said:

"You look so much like your mother."

Sydney was shocked, to say the least.

"How could you have known my mother?

"Irina Derevko is a legend in the world of Russian intelligence."

"Who?"

Not answering, Anna winked and turned the key inside the lock. Making an enormous effort, Sydney forced her attention back to the case as Anna opened it. They could see the sketch inside it, but, before either of them could touch it, a sizzling sound emitted from inside.

A liquid was rapidly spreading within the lockbox, destroying the paper. Neither of the agents could mask their horror as they realised they would have to memorize the binary code before its automatic destruction.

Putting to good use her photographic memory, Sydney hurriedly learned the code and got up. Anna did the same and asked superciliously:

"Did you get it?"

"Did you?" Sydney retorted.

Anna just smiled and they strode away from each other, not wanting to waste any more time before reporting to their respective agencies.

"Base ops! This is Freelancer!"

"Go ahead, Freelancer. Give us the code!"

"1101 0100 1010 0011."

"Great work. Now report to SD-6."

"Okay… Bluebird to base ops, can you read me?

"Yes, Bluebird," Dixon answered.

"The code is 1101 0100 1010 0010… Got that?"

"Got it."

"Give them exactly..." Sydney heard in her left ear. Swiftly, she turned off her SD-6 comm. link.

"There's no way, forget it!" she said vehemently.

"Sydney, you listen to me. This is critical. Sydney, you give them the number. That's an order!"

"An order?" she repeated, shooting a dark look toward the stars.

Vaughn heard Weiss gulp but his own voice was assured when he confirmed:

"Yes!"

"We need to have a long talk when I get back to Los Angeles!"

She sighed.

"Dixon? Did I say the code ended with an 0?"

"Yes."

"Sorry, I meant to say 1. I really need a vacation."

"Geez, that girl's name isn't Bristow for no reason!" Weiss exclaimed, leaning back in his chair.

Earlier, Weiss had thought Vaughn was so taken with Sydney that he would have let her walk all over him if she were to ask. But now, Eric had to admit he was pretty impressed his friend.

Vaughn had just proven that he had the measure of her, at least professionally. He hadn't hesitated to give her an order and to stand by it even though she had clearly stated she was unhappy with it. That took some balls. Yep, balls of steel.

"Hey, do you know what I'll call you from now on?"

Getting no reaction from Vaughn, Eric looked at him and saw him staring blankly at the screen.

"Mike? Me, talking? Hello?"

Vaughn came back to reality.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about what Anna said," he explained, running his hand through his hair.

"Huh-uh, that was strange. I seem to remember that Sydney's mother is dead."

"Yes, I read in Sydney's file that she died when her daughter was six. And her name wasn't Irina…" Vaughn said, perplexed.

"My guess is that Anna just wanted to unsettle Sydney."

"Probably. But I'll do some research", stated Vaughn, determinedly.

Sydney was driving her old SUV down the boulevard, going to meet with Vaughn, making sure she wasn't followed.

It had been nearly 24 hours since Anna had uttered the words and still her mind was processing the comment made by her adversary. Could her mother's real name have been Irina instead of Laura? No, it didn't make any sense. Her mother was just an English Literature teacher born in good old Wisconsin.

But something was telling her that Anna wouldn't just have invented this. There had to be at least some truth in her words…

Maybe the CIA knew something? Well, if they didn't, she would raise suspicions by asking. And this wasn't something they needed to know. After all, her mother had been dead for almost twenty-five years now. The CIA digging into this would only cause problems. Sydney had learned the hard way that it wasn't so difficult for agencies to conceal layers of the truth from intelligent people. She honestly didn't trust them to give her the full facts.

And how would her dad react if he knew? How would he feel to have his deceased wife suspected of having been an enemy?

She had to find out by herself. Then she would be the one to tell her father if she decided there was something he needed to know.

She grabbed her cell phone and immediately called Sloane, asking him for a few days off. She said she needed to study in order not to flunk all her courses and he complied with her demand. Maybe the only good thing about Arvin Sloane was the fact that he understood how important school was to Sydney. Or maybe he just wanted her to keep her cover as a student intact.

As soon as the meeting with Vaughn ended, she would make arrangements to leave for Moscow the next morning. She had a secret passport her dad had given her. She had thought it was a bit odd at the time, thinking he really was overcautious, but now that she knew the true nature of SD-6 she realised why he had taken that precaution. He wanted to make sure she would have a way out if things ever turned bad.

Sydney, having reached her destination, stopped her car. She hoped this debrief wouldn't take too long, because she had a lot to do. She wondered briefly if she should she cancel her date with Danny, being so focused on her upcoming trip, but decided against that. She would have plenty of time after dinner to do what needed to be done.

Sydney spotted the white, unmarked van and rapidly walked toward it. For once, that would be where she would meet with her handler. He had requested this meeting although there was nothing much to debrief and she suspected he wanted to talk about the way she had reacted to him giving her an order.

She had complied with his demand, not wanting to make the situation worse, but had requested that the meeting took place closer to her house. Danny was going to pick her up at 6:00pm and she needed to be home by then. She had only told Vaughn she was going out without getting into the details.

She opened the van's door and was about to climb in when she noticed Vaughn's admiring look. That's when she remembered how she was dressed: black dress and matching boots. Knowing there was no way to enter the van without revealing too much of her anatomy, she smirked:

"Look away while I climb up."

A lopsided grin appeared on Vaughn's face and he obeyed, avoiding looking at her until he heard the door closing.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi."

"So, are you still angry with me?" he asked with a cute grin.

She sighed. How could she stay mad at someone with a smile like his?

"No, I just think that if we follow your pace we'll still be meeting here when you have grandchildren. I know I could easily have misled SD-6..."

"Sydney, listen to me a second. If you'd have given SD-6 a bogus code, what would have happened when the sequence would lead them nowhere?"

"Who cares? They would have thought I made a mistake."

"Sydney, I understand what is at stake for you here. But we have to be very careful. We have to be wildly, crazy careful. If SD-6 suspects you in the least, it's over." 

She didn't answer back.

"Sydney?"

"Yes?"

"About what Anna said… What are you going to do?"

"What makes you think I will do something?" she replied, surprised. How could he already read her that well? She had to admit she was impressed.

"Sydney, I haven't known you very long, but if there is something I'm sure of it's that you won't let this go past you. I'm certain that you are wondering if your mother could indeed be that 'Irina Derevko' Anna mentioned."

"Maybe I am wondering. But that's a personal matter," she snapped.

Vaughn let her crabby comment go past him and continued:

"Sydney, you should know that I researched the name 'Derevko'. I didn't find anything. My guess is that Anna wanted to destabilize you, that's all."

So the CIA didn't know anything about her mother supposedly being a Russian spy. Good. Maybe that meant Anna was just sending her on a wild goose chase? Maybe she should just drop it? But she immediately rejected the idea. She would always live with the doubt if she didn't do this.

"She wouldn't just have made that up. If my mother was a Russian spy, I need to know. I'm going to Moscow to search the KGB archives."

"The archives are kept at the K-Directorate headquarters! It's too dangerous!"

"I'm going. You won't make me change my mind."

Somehow, he didn't have any doubt about that. So he played another card.

"Then I'll provide you with backup."

"No, this is personal stuff. I won't endanger other lives for this, plus it's none of the CIA's business. I don't need them deciding what I should know or not. After all, it's my mother we are talking about."

"Sydney, if your mother learned about any of the CIA's activities when she was with your father, we need to know."

"No you don't. You can't tell your superiors about this. Can you imagine what it would do to my dad if he ever learned about this?" she pleaded.

On an impulse, Vaughn suddenly said:

"I won't tell if you let me go with you to Moscow."

Sydney was stunned. Such a proposition was nowhere near anything written in a handler's job description. Why would he do that?

No, she wasn't going to let him risk his life for a personal quest. If something ever happened to him… she would never forgive herself. She needed him too much to put his life in danger.

"No."

But Vaughn insisted, a determined expression on his face.

"Yes, I am. You won't make me change my mind."

She could see in his eyes that he was dead serious. Thinking quickly, she realised this man could probably be just as stubborn as she was. He would not let her go alone. The only solution she saw was to pretend to agree with him. She hated lying to him but she had no choice.

"Okay, then. We'll meet at the warehouse tomorrow morning. 6:30am."

Vaughn was a bit surprised with her giving up so rapidly, but didn't think more of it.

"Good. How are you going to explain your absence to Sloane? We certainly won't be back until Monday night…"

"I told him I had to study. He gave me off until Wednesday morning."

"Okay. Do you have a blueprint of the archives building?

"I've been there once on a SD-6 mission. I know my way around."

"I'll bring a CIA blueprint. It will be safer."

"The CIA cannot know about this."

"They won't."

The next morning, Vaughn was sitting on a crate, waiting for Sydney to arrive.

She was late. Late? Really? He had arrived here early, certain that she would already be there, waiting impatiently for him. Waiting impatiently to depart for Russia.

Head resting against the fence, he tried to comprehend the reasons that had led him to volunteer to accompany Sydney.

When she had informed him of her plan to go to Russia, anxiety had taken the control of him. He couldn't let her leave without any protection! What if something happened to her? That was a thought he couldn't stand. Without thinking further, he had offered to go with Sydney. He had to protect her, no matter what it cost him.

Of course, the reason he felt that way was because he knew that Sydney was right when she said that the CIA would take charge and decide who was going where and was going to be told what.

In light of what had happened to his own father, he could understand that Sydney needed to know who her mother really was. He was convinced that going with her was the only possible intelligent strategic decision. One solitary agent entering the

K-Directorate headquarters with no tech and no back-up was a ridiculous tally of odds not in Sydney's favour, no matter how good she was.

Yes, risking his own life was the best way to ensure the welfare of his agent and therefore the continued infiltration of SD-6.

He once again glanced at his watch. Something certainly had happened. Vaughn looked at his cell phone to see if he had missed a call. No. And the battery was fully charged.

His heart began to beat faster as the realisation slowly sank in.

She had duped him.

She was gone.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Sydney was looking through the plane's small window, watching the cars grow tinier with every passing second.

A quick glance at her watch informed her it was now 6:33am. She figured another 10 minutes would be all Vaughn needed before realising she wasn't on her way. She felt totally awful thinking about the reaction he would have. He would feel betrayed, she knew it. The man was ready to put his job and even his life on the line for her and all she could do to thank him, was lie to his face.

Wanting to make the knot in her stomach unravel, she tried to convince herself that she had acted the only way she could have, but that didn't really ease her guilt. It wouldn't have happened if Vaughn hadn't been so incredibly stubborn, she told herself. But having experienced betrayal herself, couldn't bear to think about the fact she had abused his trust…

She tried to think about something else… last night's date with Danny, for instance.

Dinner had been nice, although she had to admit she had had difficulty at times focusing on what Danny was saying, being too preoccupied with her forthcoming mission to Russia. When they got out of the restaurant, she had sensed he was a bit down, which worried her. What if he didn't want to see her again?

After all, Danny was a handsome, bright, ambitious, funny, charming man who loved kids and was dedicated to his work… When she was with him, she felt… normal. He was one of the very few normal things or people in her life and she genuinely liked him. What more could she want from someone? Was there anything more to want? Well maybe, Sydney thought wistfully, if you were a character in some movie, but this was real life. Worse than that, this was her life. No, she really couldn't screw this up.

That's why she had kissed him sweetly before saying goodnight. Then they had agreed to go together to the following week's Halloween party.

As she was wondering which costume Francie would pick out for her, her cell phone rang, causing her heart to jump in her chest.

It was Vaughn. Without letting him talk, she began:

"Vaughn, I'm-"

"Sydney! Tell me you aren't doing what I think you are doing?" he interrupted her, anxiety and anger unmistakable in his voice.

"Vaughn, I… I'm sorry. I couldn't let you do this. I never would have forgiven myself if something had happened to you."

"I won't be able to forgive myself something happens to YOU! Do you know how high the odds are?!"

"I'll be fine. I've done this kind of thing before," she said, trying to justify her actions.

"Sydney, you can't go through with this alone! Wait for me, I'll jump on a plane as soon as I can."

"Vaughn, it's MY mother we are talking about. This is not your problem."

"Your problems are my problems," he said firmly.

"No," she began with equal vigour before pausing and lowering her voice. "They don't have to be."

"I..." he started sharply, only to falter and sigh loudly. "But they are, Sydney."

She knew instinctively that he meant it. The sentiment simultaneously reassured and unsettled her. Sydney was reluctant to process these emotions right now. This wasn't the time. 

"I've got to go. I'm sorry," she said flatly.

At this point, knowing he couldn't win, Vaughn tried to earn at least one concession. 

"Sydney, wait! I want you to call me as soon as you are out of that building, understood?" he asked, trying to sound authoritative but now feeling desperate. 

"Okay," Sydney answered quickly. She was willing to grant his seemingly simple request considering how she'd treated him. 

"No, Sydney. Promise me."

The solemnity in his voice stilled her haste.

"I promise you, Vaughn," she assured him sincerely, before hanging up.

For long minutes, Vaughn just stood there, in the middle of the warehouse. Although his body was still, his mind was racing, studying every possibility. Should he jump on plane to follow her? No, she would be in Moscow before him anyway, and it would be too late. Should he send an agent stationed in Russia to assist her? If he did, he would have to inform the CIA about it and Sydney had specifically said she didn't want them to interfere with her family business…

The only thing he could do, really, was to go to work and wait for her call.

And pray.

Vaughn was now getting restless. Most agents had already gone home for the evening and he was still sitting here, behind his desk, waiting for a phone call that wasn't coming.

His day hadn't really been a productive one, him being too busy thinking about Sydney to do anything else. Had she landed safely? Had she been able to enter the K-Directorate headquarters and then the archive room? Should he call her? What if something happened to her?

He was calling himself stupid for the thousandth time for not having seen through her lie when his cell phone rang.

"Hello?" he said, hopeful.

"Vaughn?" Sydney asked, whispering.

He jumped on his feet, relieved to hear her voice but still really worried.

"Sydney! Where are you?" he asked, frantic.

"Still at the archives," she replied calmly, before continuing: "Vaughn, my mother… She's alive!"

Vaughn couldn't believe his ears.

"What? How do you know?"

"I just found a tape where she is being debriefed by her superiors… two weeks after she supposedly died! And one of them is Khasinau!" she revealed, clearly unsettled.

"The Man?"

"Yes. And he's calling her Irina… Irina Derevko."

Vaughn sat back on his chair, disconcerted.

"Oh, my God… Anna was right."

"Yes, I will-"

But Sydney didn't finish her sentence. At the other end of the line, Vaughn could suddenly hear noise and then men shouting orders in Russian.

K-Directorate security agents.

"I've been made!" she yelled before the line went dead.

Anguish submerged Vaughn as he screamed:

"Sydney!"

Almost panicked, Vaughn didn't waste a second. His cell phone still in hand, he ran to Devlin's office and barged in, completely ignoring the director's assistant's pleas.

"Sir, we have a problem!"

Devlin put the file he was reading down on his desk, obviously unhappy with Vaughn irruption in his office.

"YOU have a problem, Agent Vaughn! You don't ever ba-" he began, irritated.

But it was as if Vaughn didn't hear him at all.

"Sir, Sydney Bristow has been captured!"

"What? How? Where?"

Quickly, Vaughn explained how Anna Espinosa had caused Sydney to suspect her mother could have been an infiltrated KGB agent, therefore wanting to go to Moscow in search of the truth. Knowing he should keep as many details as possible to himself, he carefully avoided mentioning the name Derevko or even that Sydney had found confirmation of her qualms.

Devlin didn't seem that surprised at the news of Laura Bristow having possibly been a traitor and Vaughn's brow furrowed. Was he to assume the CIA knew some of Sydney's suspicions were facts?

Incredulous, Devlin asked:

"You knew she was going? And you let her go?

Vaughn almost started to explain how he had tried to stop her but she had gone behind his back but caught himself on time. There was no way he would let Sydney take the blame for this.

"Yes."

Devlin leaned forward, unimpressed with the young agent in front of him.

"What? Is that why she wanted you as a handler? Because she knows how easily she can manipulate you?"

Vaughn bit the bullet. He could hear the clock ticking for Sydney and that was all that mattered.

"Sir, I assume full responsibility of this mess. But we have to get her out of there," Vaughn said calmly.

But Devlin was now furious.

"Are you insane? We can't just send in rescue teams for agents who can't be controlled by their handlers! She's on her own!"

Vaughn took a deep breath. He needed to stay composed, knowing how important it was to play his cards right. Sydney's life depended on him. Smashing Devlin into the wall wouldn't help her.

"Sir, may I remind you how important Agent Bristow is to the destruction of the Alliance? And that the return of Jack Bristow within this Agency depends on that take down?" 

Devlin looked down, probably thinking how unpleasant his next encounter with Jack would be if he didn't at least try to save his daughter. He then leaned back in his chair and stayed silent for a moment, visibly fighting with himself.

He then cleared his throat and said:

"Alright. There's one long shot. Somebody within the agency has been to that building and could give you the necessary intel to help retrieve Sydney."

Vaughn jumped on his feet.

"Who? I'll talk to him!"

Devlin repressed a smile. Meeting with that informant would be punishment enough for the young agent.

"It's Jack Bristow." 


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Much to Devlin's surprise, Vaughn didn't even blink when he heard the name. His expression remained as determined.

"How do I contact him?"

"I will contact him myself. Make the necessary arrangements to go to Moscow. I'll talk to you as soon as I have spoken with Jack."

Vaughn was a bit surprised that Devlin wanted to send him on such an important rescue mission but said nothing. Maybe his boss just wanted to keep as quiet as possible the fact that they were going to use the CIA's resources to rescue an agent captured while on a personal expedition. Anyway, there was no time to waste discussing Devlin's reasons. He had things to do.

"Yes, Sir."

As soon as Vaughn closed the door behind him, Devlin turned to his computer and logged into a secure server before typing the following message:

"We have to talk."

He then leaned back into his chair and waited for an answer. It didn't even take a minute before the reply appeared on his screen:

"Wait for my call."

Again, Devlin didn't have to wait long before his phone rang.

"Devlin," he answered.

"More good news?" asked Jack dryly, but the irony was obvious. The reason for this attitude was well known to Devlin. Last time he had talked to Jack, he had to explain how Sydney, instead of going into the Witness Protection Program like her father had requested, had ended up becoming a double agent. Jack hadn't really been happy with that development and Devlin had carefully avoided mentioning he had ordered Vaughn to insist that Sydney continued her father's work inside SD-6.

Remembering that conversation, Devlin sighed inwardly. The information he had to share this time around was even worse and Devlin cringed in anticipation of Jack's reaction.

"Jack… Sydney has been captured," he finally had the courage to say.

"When? By whom?" Jack questioned immediately.

"A few minutes ago. K-Directorate has her."

After a brief pause, Jack asked:

"Can SD-6 save her?"

"This… this wasn't an SD-6 mission."

"What do you mean?" Jack enquired, sounding irritated.

"A few days ago, Sydney met with Anna Espinosa who told her your late wife had been an infiltrated KGB agent."

A long silence followed Devlin's revelation and he briefly marvelled at the lack of panic in Jack Bristow's voice before wondering if he'd actually heard.

"Jack?"

"I'm still here."

"As far as I know the name 'Irina Derevko' wasn't disclosed," Devlin pointed out, trying to make things seem a bit less desperate.

"Go on."

"Sydney decided to go to the KGB archives in Moscow in search of answers."

"And you let her go?" said Jack, containing his anger.

"I didn't know. She only told Agent Vaughn."

"Who?" Jack snapped in irritation, but he almost instantly remembered  
him as being the cause of the Slovakian fiasco and therefore the reason he had been forced into hiding.

"What has he got to do with this?" he continued.

Hesitantly, Devlin replied:

"He's… he's her handler."

"You assured me it would be Lambert," said Jack accusingly.

"I tried, but… well… She insisted it was Vaughn."

Jack was fuming but he only said:

"I'll go to Moscow."

But Devlin disagreed.

"No Jack, it's too dangerous. Tell us what you know about the archives building and we'll get her back."

"I've been there. I'm the most qualified to save my daughter's life."

"Jack, what if you get caught? K-Directorate knows you. It would be the end for you and for Sydney. Let Vaughn go. He's the only one who knows the reasons of Sydney's presence in Moscow. We better keep this as private as we can. For your own good, Jack."

"That pretty-boy has no idea what he is doing. There is no way I'm letting my daughter's life in his hands again."

"Come on Jack. He actually proved several times he was an excellent agent. He'll get her out of there, I assure you."

As much as Jack hated it, he knew Devlin was right.

"Okay. Tell Vaughn to meet me at the States Avenue safehouse in 30 minutes."

"Can't you give us the intel by phone or by e-mail?"

"I want to see him," Jack insisted. He would let Vaughn be the one going to Moscow, but before that he wanted to make sure the young agent knew exactly how he felt about his latest blunder.

"Very well. He'll be there," confirmed Devlin.

Without another word, Jack hung up.

Slowly, Sydney opened her eyes. After a few seconds, her surroundings became less foggy and she realised she was in a small prison cell, lying on a concrete floor.

Her head hurt, but when she tried to touch it she became aware of the fact that her hands and feet were tied. Gradually, she remembered what had happened earlier. She was talking to Vaughn, sharing the staggering discovery she had just made about her mother, when five guards had entered the room.

Many times over the years she had been able to take five men down and then escape, but not that time. One of them had come from behind and had hit on the head with his gun, she presumed. The sharp pain was the last thing she remembered.

At least she had managed to tell Vaughn she had been compromised, she thought, finding comfort in that fact. But… how could he help her? His boss would probably turn him down if he went to the CIA for help. After all, this wasn't a CIA sanctioned mission.

Given the way she had deceived him, why would Vaughn even give a damn about her? Saying you cared about someone's safety and actually risking your life to save them after they'd betrayed you were two entirely different things…

And even if he did come, what would he be able to do, alone against K-Directorate? Really, it would be better for her if she found a way out of here all by herself…

With difficulty, she pulled herself into a sitting position. Her head was pounding but everything else seemed fine. The faint noise she made doing this alerted the guard watching her from a few feet away. He got up from his chair and grabbed the phone that rested on a nearby desk.

"Tell Kozlov that she is awake," the guard said in Russian before hanging up.

Sydney guessed that this Kozlov probably was the guard's superior, but she didn't have to wonder for very long. A couple of minutes later, a tall man stood in front of her cell.

"Who are you?" he shouted.

"No hablo Russiano", she replied with a wicked grin.

Kozlov ignored her mocking comment and asked:

"Who sent you?"

"Got a pen? E-M-E-T-I-B. Now reverse it," Sydney said, defiantly looking at him.

This time, Kozlov sighed in pity.

"You see, Miss, I'm the 'nice' one around here. For your own good, I suggest you tell me exactly who you are. Now."

"I'm a Sagittarius and I'm guessing you are a… a… Virgo?" she joked, now speaking Russian.

"Very funny. But you may not be so amused when you see who you'll have to deal with now. General Tartakov will see you when he comes in," he said with an evil smile. "Good luck."

***

Thirty-one minutes after talking to his boss, Vaughn arrived at the safehouse, ready to meet with Jack. He tried not to think about whether or not Sydney was still alive. He had to believe she was unhurt. She had to be, because after spending the last thirty-one minutes reflecting on his uncharacteristic outburst in Devlin's office, Vaughn realised he couldn't bear the thought of not seeing Sydney again. He sighed, blaming himself for not having been able to stop her, or at least seen through her lies and gone with her…

A few seconds later, standing in front of the door, Vaughn exhaled deeply. He was apprehensive. The few times he and Jack had talked hadn't been very pleasant… and it surely wouldn't be any nicer this time around, he thought before entering the safehouse. The place was still dark, so Vaughn assumed he was the first one to arrive. His heart almost jumped out of his chest when suddenly Jack appeared from the shadows.

"Mr Vaughn."

"Agent Bristow," Vaughn replied on a slight gasp, before trying to regain his composure. As Jack moved forward and switched on a table lamp, Vaughn noted that he was carrying something under his arm.

Jack wasn't one to put on white gloves when he had something to say, so he wasted no time in telling Vaughn exactly what was on his mind. He stopped a few feet opposite and looked Vaughn straight in the eyes.

"I was very displeased to learn that you were the one acting as Sydney's handler. I don't know how you tricked Sydney and the CIA into that, but I don't like it."

Vaughn almost felt like complimenting himself on correctly anticipating Jack's contemptuous attitude, but instead he immediately sought to defend Sydney.

"I would have thought that you, of all people, would know that 'tricking' your daughter into something is nearly impossible. Actually, she was the one who insisted on having me as her handler."

Jack merely smirked at this news.

"Oh, really? And why did you imagine that was? Because she likes your pretty face or because she could sense you'd let her do anything she wanted?"

Of course Jack was worried about his daughter; Vaughn could understand that. But the utter disdain in Jack's tone was needling the stress Vaughn was already under. So much so that he couldn't help his reaction.

"Hey, what is your problem with me?" he snapped, getting irritated, although he guessed that Jack's dislike of him most probably went back to the way he had flirted with his daughter in Slovakia, not to mention the consequences of the mission then failing.

"Well, Mr. Vaughn, the problem is that you're young and you're eager, and I understand that. But one thing you're not, and this is something only time can provide, really, is wise. You hardly know this case, and, frankly, I've been less than impressed with your track record lately. So listen to me carefully: if anything should happen to my daughter, I will hold you personally responsible, are we clear?"

Not being deterred by Jack's continued hostility, Vaughn decided to stand his ground. Okay, he had made a few mistakes in the last month, but there was only so much one could do to stop Sydney Bristow. Jack was refusing to even acknowledge that and Vaughn wondered if taking a more direct approach might move them past this face-off.

"Sydney's safety is my top priority," announced Vaughn.

Just for a moment, the younger man thought he caught a glimmer of surprise in Jack's eyes, but it vanished so quickly that Vaughn couldn't be certain he hadn't imagined it. The smile Jack offered him now dripped with undisguised scorn, as did his words.

"Then maybe you should stop trying to please her and do your job."

Vaughn couldn't help but have a thought for Danny, Sydney's boyfriend. Poor guy. He probably had no idea he was in for getting the father-in-law from hell… But Vaughn had no doubt Sydney was worth it. And more.

"Listen, Jack," he said, using his first name on purpose, "if Sydney's return really is OUR priority, we should stop arguing and actually do something to bring her back."

As an answer, Jack held Vaughn's gaze for some moments in steely silence, refusing to voice his agreement but eventually showing it by unrolling on the table the blueprint he had been holding. It looked kind of old to Vaughn.

"There is a forgotten secret passageway here, leading directly into the prison cells area. It used to be a way of getting the prisoners in and out," explained Jack.

"Are you sure it is still open? How long has it been since you've been there?" Vaughn wondered.

"A long time. But it's our only chance."

"Okay," said Vaughn, knowing he had to trust Jack on this.

"For such a high risk and high security location, I think you should be going in alone. It would be too risky for a whole team to go in."

"And you actually agreed to let me be the one to go and get her back? I really wonder why," said Vaughn with a wry smile.

"Devlin assured me you were one of the best." He paused and then added, "and that you could keep your mouth shut."

Vaughn briefly met Jack's eyes as he pondered for a second or two over that answer, and then went on:

"Do I need to disable the security cameras?"

"You'll need to have the CIA technicians hack into the K-Directorate's security cameras. They've done it before, so it shouldn't be a problem. They could loop the feed for the cameras in the cells area so you remain undetected.

"The blueprint indicates that there are also cells here, on the other side of the building…" Vaughn noticed.

"This is where the archives' supercomputer is located. That's probably where Sydney headed to search for info about Derevko. They would probably have used the closer cells to keep her captive."

At the mention of Derevko's name, Vaughn's thoughts on the blueprints came to a halt. He was positive he had purposely avoided repeating that information to Devlin. He could feel Jack watching him as he struggled to process quickly what this could mean.

He could reach only one conclusion.

"Derevko? You knew about this, didn't you? You knew Sydney's mother was alive?" he exclaimed forcefully.

"Alive?" Jack repeated, his face expressing pure shock.

But Vaughn was so angry he didn't even notice Jack's surprise.

"Sydney risked her life to learn more and you KNEW? If anything happens to her, I'M going to hold YOU responsible!" 

"Who do you think you are?" questioned Jack, his calm facade slipping. 

"You kept the truth from her." 

"Something my daughter is capable of doing herself, when necessary." 

"This is different and you know it!" asserted Vaughn.

"This is not a subject I intend to discuss with you."

"You should discuss this with your daughter."

"Listen to me carefully, Mr. Vaughn: this is none of your business," Jack ground out with calculated fury.

But Vaughn refused to be intimidated. "If you don't tell her, I will."

On these words, Vaughn grabbed the blueprint and left the safehouse. There wasn't any more time to lose.

***

A few hours went on before Sydney heard someone coming.

"Get up!" ordered the guard as he unlocked her cell door.

Sydney obeyed. This time, they had only tied up her hands and she knew she ought to use the opportunity while she had it. The guard opened the door and walked toward her. As soon as he was close enough, about to grab her by the shoulder, Sydney said:

"Mister guard?"

Distracted, the man looked at her and that was the moment Sydney was waiting for. As hard as she could, she kicked him in the gut, causing him to fall down. Sydney knew she had to get his gun if she wanted her desperate escape attempt to work. But the guard was surprisingly well trained. Swiftly, he raised his feet and hit her right on the jaw with his heavy boot. She fell down, out for the count.

When she woke up again, she was strapped on a chair in an 'interrogation' room. There was a table in the corner and on it were various objects she recognised as torture instruments.

A short, balding man was waiting for her eyes to meet his.

"Miss Bristow… So nice to meet you. I'm General Tartakov. Welcome to Russia."

Sydney wasn't really surprised that they had identified her but still winced inwardly. What if Sloane learned about this?

Her train of thoughts was re-routed when Tartakov went on:

"You were looking for some info on Irina Derevko… Why? What does SD-6 know about her?"

"She is… WAS my mother. I was looking for family pictures."

"Oh, is that so? And how is your father? Did Jack finally realise that his wife was alive?"

The thought of her dad discovering her mother may still be alive and the way he would react to Laura Bristow's real identity just broke her heart. However, she managed to channel it into getting really mad at the man in front of her.

"No, he was too busy sleeping with your mother."

Tartakov had a mean grin.

"Very well. If you don't want to talk… we'll make you talk."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Sydney breathed avidly as soon as the man removed the mask from her face.

"I'll ask you one more time: what do you know about Irina Derevko?" he shouted.

"I don't know her. I only know Laura Bristow!" she replied, knowing perfectly that the man wouldn't be satisfied with her answer. Like she expected, he put the mask back on her face and pressed a button. The water quickly filled the mask and Sydney held her breath, trying not to focus on the lack of air in her lungs.

It wasn't the first time she had been tortured for information. Using the techniques she had learned during her SD-6 training, she tried to divert her thoughts from the pain and fear.

General Tartakov had been questioning her for a while now, always asking about Irina Derevko's whereabouts. How would she know? Why would SD-6 be interested in her? All she could gather from this interrogation was that Derevko had left the KGB, probably on unfriendly terms, judging from Tartakov's insistence to know where she was.

Once again, the general removed the mask.

"Fiodor! Let's try something else. Miss Bristow seems a bit stubborn," he said with a nasty grin.

Sydney gratefully filled her aching lungs with air. What were they going to try now? The answer came quickly. The man Tartakov had called Fiodor approached, holding a syringe filled with a clear liquid.

"Dear Sydney, since you are not too cooperative, we are going to try something else. See this little thing my friend is holding? It contains a drug called Deciratox. It will help you to… relax."

Sydney hated drugs, she dreaded them even more than physical torture. She could always have some control over her pain, over herself when hurt. But there was no way of defending herself against chemical substances. Feeling the liquid spreading inside her arm, she wondered how this was going to end. At some point, they would realise she knew nothing. That's when they would kill her.

"So, Sydney, let's try this differently. What do you know about Alexander Khasinau?"

Sydney's eyes widened. What did Khasinau have to do with this? He was "The Man", head of a criminal organisation… Her mind racing as she felt her concentration diminishing, she tried to understand how Khasinau could be connected to Irina Derevko. Did K-Directorate suspect she could have joined his organisation?

But she couldn't think any further. The drugs had overtaken over her senses.

Sydney didn't know how much time had passed since she had been injected with the drug, but it must have been a while. She was finally beginning to think more clearly. At first, she thought she was alone in the room, but after a few seconds she could hear men talking.

"Nothing seems to be working, General. I've never seen anything like this!"

"Let's try one last thing. If it doesn't work, we'll eliminate her. We've lost enough time with her as it is."

A second later, Tartakov was sitting by Sydney's side.

"Well, Miss Bristow, my patience with you is running pretty thin. You know what? My friend Fiodor collects… teeth. Strange hobby, huh? But I will-"

The interrogation room's door suddenly opened. Tartakov stopped talking and looked at the guard who had just entered.

"What is it?"

The guard walked up to the General and whispered something in his ear. Tartakov nodded.

"Well, Miss Bristow, it's your lucky day. I have an urgent matter to take care of. I'll be back in an hour or two. I suggest you use this time to think… Or when I return, I'll let my friend here add to his collection," he said before turning to the guard.

"Take her back to her cell. I'll see her later," he ordered.

For the eighth time, Vaughn checked the blueprint Jack had given him. According to it, the entrance to the secret passageway Vaughn was looking for was a grill concealed under a slab of rudimentary paving. This grill was supposed to be located in an alleyway across the street from the K-Directorate building.

But what used to be a concealed, discreet alleyway was now situated only a few feet away from a busy parking lot, protected by a security guard. Quickly, Vaughn asserted the risk generated by the guard and decided it would be too dangerous to leave him there.

Trying to look annoyed, Vaughn walked up to the man.

"Sir?" he said in Russian.

The guard turned to look at him and Vaughn explained:

"I've left my keys inside my car… could you help me?"

The man, who looked really nice, smiled at him.

"Sure, I do this all the time. You have no idea how many people lock their keys inside!" he laughed as he followed Vaughn.

At the other end of the parking lot were a few trees and Vaughn led the man to the nearest car.

"Look, my keys are right there in the front seat," Vaughn said, pointing inside a black car.

As soon as the guard leaned forward to see, Vaughn shot him with his tranquilizer gun. The man would have fallen down but the CIA agent grabbed him and dragged him to the trees where he made sure nobody would find him in the next two hours.

Vaughn then headed to the alleyway where the passage was located. Much to his surprise, he found the dislocated pavement quickly. But the problem, really, was how much it weighed. This was really a two men job. Vaughn worried about having the strength required to dislodge the slab on the way back, when he would only being able to push from underneath. Who knows in what condition Sydney would be in by that point? Well, he would have to address those concerns later. Using all his strength, he was able to remove the slab, open the grill and slip into the passageway, before finally pulling the piece of pavement back into place.

Vaughn quickly made his way inside the old tunnel dug into the rock. A strong musty smell immediately assaulted him and he fought the urge to throw up. Judging from that odour, Vaughn guessed that this passageway probably hadn't been used much since Jack had been through it more then twenty years ago.

Helped by his flashlight, he made his way through the various debris, trying not to make a wrong turn. He really had to make sure he would end up in the prison area, because that is where Weiss, from the LA field office, would loop the camera feed.

There was just no room for error.

"Boy Scout? Camera feed looped. Are you ready for the diversion?"

"Yes, Base ops," Vaughn said as he pulled the mask down his face and raised his tranquilizer gun. He knew what Weiss was going to do: he would call the phone on the guard's desk. While the man had his back turned, Vaughn would get out of the secret passageway.

"Target in place, Boy Scout! Go!"

A mere two seconds later, Vaughn stepped into the prison cells area, aimed and shot the guard with a tranquilizer. He immediately fell to the floor. Taking a second to look back at the concealed entrance to the passageway he had just exited, he marvelled briefly at how, to the unsuspecting eye, the structure looked no more than a poster-style image of Lenin, designed to incite patriotism to the motherland.

The image had a considerable thickness, but unlike a conventional painting, someone had done a good job of making this one appear a permanent fixture on the wall, once clicked back into place. Had the grimy colours on the life sized frieze once been bright? How many people would have laid eyes on Lenin, before undergoing untold horrors at the hands of his supporters, he wondered?

Leaving those considerations behind, Vaughn ran to the guard in order to get his keys. He quickly found them and, as he was standing back up, he saw something from the corner of his eye. Or rather, someone. It was Sydney, lying on the floor of a nearby cell, seemingly unconscious.

Without losing a second, Vaughn ran to her and unlocked the door.

"Sydney!" he called huskily as he removed the hair from her face. Immediately he noticed the purple bruise on her jaw and his heart sank. One day, these guys were going to pay for this.

Sydney slowly opened her eyes.

"Vaughn…?" she said weakly.

"Are you hurt?" he asked as he untied her feet hurriedly.

She shook her head a bit.

"Can you walk?"

"Drugged…" she managed to say.

Knowing there wasn't any time to waste, Vaughn just took her in his arms and carried back her inside the tunnel.

They finally reached the car waiting for them. They both sat down on the back seat while a CIA operative was taking them to the plane that would bring them both to safety.

As Vaughn talked briefly with their driver, Sydney stared at him, her mind still a bit clouded by the drug she had been injected with. He had just removed his mask; finally, her gaze was unrestricted.

"Vaughn…" she whispered.

He turned to face her and her heart broke when she noticed how worn out he looked with his dishevelled hair and the dark circles under his eyes. She could see his forehead creasing as he studied her. She probably looked awful.

She couldn't believe he had come for her. After all she had done to him, he still had risked his life in order to save hers…

"Thank you… I can't believe-" she started to say, struggling, but Vaughn stopped her.

"It's okay, Syd. Just relax. We'll talk later," he said with a small smile.

She nodded and closed her eyes, finally feeling safe.

When they got aboard the plane, Vaughn's first concern was to settle Sydney down so she could sleep. Wordlessly, he put a big blanket over her as she got comfortable. She smiled briefly and closed her eyes. Five seconds later, her breathing became deep and slow. She was asleep. Vaughn then went to sit down across the aisle, needing to be able to see her. He had almost lost her and somehow the sight of her helped him to finally calm down.

"Base ops, we're on the plane. I got her," he signalled in his comm. link.

"Great! Good work, Boy Scout! We'll drink to that when you get home!" Weiss replied, relieved to know they were both safe.

"Okay. Talk to you later," Vaughn answered before removing his link. His arm fell to his side. He was positively drained.

He had gone through the last day on such an adrenaline rush, now that it was wearing off he was starting to realise there would be consequences to his actions.

He had burst into Devlin's office and demanded that the CIA help Sydney. Devlin would now probably look for any opportunity to get rid of him… He also hadn't made a friend out of Jack Bristow, and that was putting it mildly.

But somehow, all this didn't really matter. The only person that did matter was sleeping peacefully a few feet away from him. And the thought that she wouldn't emerge from this trip unscathed broke his heart. He hated to think about what those men had done to her. He would have medical attention organized for her as soon as they landed in Los Angeles. He also wondered how these revelations about her mother were going to affect Sydney. Should he tell her that Jack had already known about Laura/Irina?

Vaughn sighed and closed his tired eyes. How had he become so involved in his asset's life? He had handled a few other double agents before and had always easily managed to avoid becoming embroiled in their personal lives.

Vaughn suddenly opened his eyes again.

He had just realised that the infiltration of SD-6 couldn't be further away from his mind and that's when reality hit him like a ton of bricks.

His feelings for Sydney Bristow went far deeper than the professional concern of a handler for his asset.

Far deeper than a crush.

He was falling in love with her.

How could this have happened? He had just met her three weeks ago!

He didn't know how or why, but she had quickly become a constant fixture in his thoughts. He risked his life and his career to save her from K-Directorate's headquarters, without even thinking twice about it and he'd do so again, just to keep her safe. He had to admit that he had never felt this way, ever. Not even toward Alice. He tried to remember the last time he had really thought about her lately. Telling her he was leaving for a couple of days hadn't even occurred to him.

But now, what should he do, knowing he was in love with his asset? Resign? He had tried that once and she didn't let him, he thought with a tiny smile and a feeling of pride. If he stayed on as her handler, would he be able to remain professional? Would she find out about his feelings and become uncomfortable? But how would she react if he abandoned her?

What should he do?

The effects of the drugs dissipated after a few hours. Sydney woke up and saw him looking at her from across the aisle.

"Hey," she said, her voice low.

"Hi," he replied, happy to see the colour had returned to her cheeks.

She slowly sat upright and patted the seat next to hers. Even though the realisation of his feelings for her made him feel a bit uncomfortable, he got up and sat by her side.

"How are you feeling?" he asked gently.

"Better…" she paused, uncertainly. Trying to express as much gratitude as she could through her gaze, she went on:

"Vaughn… thank you."

His answer was a quick nod. He looked down a second or two before he raised his eyes again and said:

"Sydney, we need to talk."

"I guess it's time for the lecture, huh?"

A smile flashed on his lips but he quickly became serious again.

"You DO NOT lie to me."

Sydney didn't say a word. She only looked down, knowing he was right. She had messed up. Badly.

"Trust is the most important thing between a handler and his asset. We need to be able to rely completely on each other. Don't EVER go behind my back again."

"I'm sorry, Vaughn. Lying to you didn't feel good at all."

He sort of nodded, wanting to acknowledge her admission. He then planted his eyes into hers and said:

"Sydney, you may feel like you're alone in all this, like you don't have an ally… But… I'm your ally. Never doubt that, okay?"

Sydney's eyes filled with tears. She had been a total pain in the butt to this man and still he was telling her he would always be there for her. She really didn't deserve him.

Her voice shaky, she whispered:

"Okay."

"Now go back to sleep," he said, a grin back on his weary face.

He began to get up but she put her hand on his arm and he stopped his movement.

"Stay… please?" she asked, hoping he wouldn't ask why. For maybe the first time in her life, she felt she had found someone she could rely on. Someone who would never let her down, no matter what. Right now, she needed to have him close to her. She needed to draw on his strength…

Without a word, Vaughn sat back down. He pulled Sydney's blanket up to her chin and they shared a big smile before she closed her eyes again.

Vaughn then leaned back in his seat, looking straight in front of him. A few hours ago, he had realised he was in love with Sydney Bristow, hesitating as to whether he should resign or not. But just now, as he spoke with her, he had made his decision.

He would stay as her handler in order to protect her. He would have to work hard to put his feelings aside when working with Sydney, but the truth was that he didn't trust anyone else to take care of her.

And he hated to think about how life would be for him if anything happened to her.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Sydney was turning off her computer, ready to leave for the day, when she got a call from Sloane. She had just come back from Moscow the previous afternoon and today, at SD-6, she had been able to avoid her boss. Until now, she sighed to herself. She was having more and more difficulty to stand the mere presence of Arvin Sloane; she was sure this occasion would be no exception.

"Sydney, could I see you before you leave?" he asked even though the answer was a foregone conclusion.

"I'll be there in a minute," she replied politely.

Slowly, she walked to his office and shut the glass door behind her. Sloane closed the file in front of him and leaned back in his chair, hands joined and a smile on his face. God she hated him.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?"

"Yes Sydney, sit down."

She did and Sloane said:

"So, Sydney, I haven't had a chance to see you today. Was your study leave productive? You look a bit tired. I hope you didn't overdo it."

Although he had said that very nicely, Sydney couldn't help but wonder if he knew something and was testing her. Oh, the joy of being a double agent.

"I'm okay. I just had a lot to do," she replied, not wanting to extend the conversation beyond what was strictly necessary.

"Good. Sydney, just so you know… We analysed the code you brought back from Berlin. It revealed the location of a church in Spain. In Malaga, to be more precise. During your absence, we sent agents there and they retrieved a pre-synthetic polymer made by Rambaldi," Sloane explained, his eyes shining. He seemed really passionate about that Rambaldi guy, Sydney thought, a bit perplexed.

"That's great."

"Yes, it is. But I can see you're tired. We'll chat another time. Go home."

"Thanks, Sir."

Sydney got up and was just about to turn the door's handle when Sloane spoke again:

"Sydney? Has your father tried to contact you since his disappearance?"

Sydney turned around and looked directly into Sloane's eyes.

"No. And be assured I'd tell you if he did," she said firmly.

Sloane nodded slowly.

"I know you would, Sydney. I know you would."

Sydney drove away the Credit Dauphine building harbouring mixed feelings of relief, but also continuing anger with Sloane. She hated how he had brought the subject of her father up. It only reminded her that she would have, one day or another, to break the news to him that Laura, his adored wife, had been working for the KGB. And that she was still alive.

As hard as it would be, she knew she had no choice. She owed her dad the truth. Maybe she could ask Devlin to put her in contact with him? That's how Vaughn had met with him, wasn't it?

Sydney sighed. At least now she knew her father was okay, because Vaughn had told her so, back on the plane returning from Moscow…

When she opened her eyes a few hours later, Vaughn was still sitting beside her, sleeping. Studying him, she noticed that his neck would kill him when he woke up and she hated the fact that it was only one of the consequences he would have to suffer after saving her.

How had he found the tunnel? How had he convinced Devlin to help her? She had so many questions for him and couldn't wait to ask, but she knew he needed some rest. Meanwhile, she had to find something to eat, because her stomach was growling so loudly she couldn't hear herself think. When was the last time she had eaten? Probably back in LA, and she guessed that it was true in Vaughn's case too. Trying not to disturb his sleep, she got up and went to see what she could find to eat.

A few minutes later, she came back to her seat holding two frozen lasagnes she had warmed up in the microwave oven. Not fine cuisine, but they would do. Vaughn was now awake and rubbing his neck.

"Hey," he said, smiling but clearly still a bit sleepy.

"Hey. I brought you something to eat," she said as she sat back down next to him.

He smiled gratefully.

"Thanks, I'm starving."

"Good, because you'll have to be to eat that!" she joked.

Vaughn smiled again, looking at her, but she saw him frown when his eyes fell on her bruised jaw.

"Vaughn, it's okay," she said softly, feeling as bad enough as it was, without him worrying about her.

"No, it's not. What else did they do to you?" he replied, seething.

"Nothing too painful. Thanks to you."

Vaughn looked down.

"You should eat," she said after a moment wanting to raise him from his depressing thoughts.

"Yeah."

They ate a few bites but Vaughn quickly realised Sydney was studying him. He smirked and put down his fork.

"Alright, go ahead. Ask me."

Sydney smiled widely. Once again, he was reading her thoughts.

"How did you find me exactly?"

Vaughn leaned back in his seat, exhaled and then explained:

"I went to Devlin. He knew your father had been to that building once and knew about a secret passageway."

"What was he doing there?"

"Devlin didn't tell me," Vaughn answered, staring at his lasagne.

"So Devlin talked to my dad?"

"No, actually I went to meet him."

"You saw my father?" she asked eagerly.

Vaughn hesitated.

"Yes."

"How is he?"

"He... he's alive and well. He hasn't changed," Vaughn joked and Sydney smiled in recognition. On top of everything, she was sure her poor handler had also been on the receiving end of her dad's wrath… She really owed him one.

"I'm relieved to know that. So, Devlin has a way of contacting my father?"

"Yes."

Vaughn looked at her with concerned eyes and asked:

"You want to tell him about Irina?"

"I have to."

Vaughn nodded, looking down at his hands.

"How do you feel about… about what you found out?" he asked gently.

"I don't really know. It' pretty hard to imagine… I mean… My mother was Laura Bristow, a warm and loving Literature teacher. That woman I saw on the tape… She looked the same as her but… It's like… it's like it's somebody else, do you see what I mean?"

"Yes…"

"Vaughn, the man who… who questioned me… He wanted to know if I knew where she was. Then he asked me about Khasinau."

Vaughn seemed kind of surprised.

"Khasinau? From what you saw on the tape you found, it seems he was her superior…"

"I wonder… Do you think it's possible that Khasinau and Derevko still work together? That he is 'The Man' and that she…"

But she wasn't able to finish her sentence. The idea of her mother being a criminal was too painful. She suddenly felt a warm hand briefly squeezing hers. She looked up to meet a pair of green eyes.

"Sydney… We'll think about this in time. For now, you have to finish eating this and rest some more before we land, okay?"

She smiled faintly.

As always, Vaughn was right.

"Fran, I'm home!" Sydney said as she put down her briefcase. For once, she was in time for dinner and she hoped Francie would be there to share it with her. They hadn't spent a lot of girl time together in the last few weeks and Sydney missed those moments. After all, Francie was her best friend and her anchor to real life.

She was removing her shoes when Francie appeared in front of her. She had this really, really big smile on her face and Sydney couldn't help but wonder if one of the couples she had once played matchmaker for, hadn't just announced their engagement.

But the cause of Francie's excitement was something other than that.

"Oh, Syd! I'm so glad you're home! I couldn't wait to show you the costume I picked for you!"

Costume? Oh, right, the Halloween party… With the events of the last few days, she had completely forgotten about that…

"Oh, uh… okay."

"Come, it's on your bed!"

Obediently, Sydney followed her friend. They entered Sydney's bedroom and Francie picked up the dress that was lying on the bed.

"Look!" she said, beaming.

Francie was holding a beautiful medieval gown that reminded Sydney of one of the dresses Julia Ormond had worn in the movie 'First Night' they had watched many times together, drooling over Richard Gere.

"You and Danny are going to be such a cute couple! He's going to be dressed as a knight, so I thought if he is your Lancelot you could be his Guinevere!"

Sydney gasped.

"How do you know what he'll be wearing?" she asked, not even sure she wanted to know the answer to that question.

"I just asked him, what do you think?"

Wondering what Danny would think if she showed up at the party dressed like this, Sydney sighed inwardly. She could understand how, due to her pitiful love life, Francie could have thought that dressing as this damsel in distress, waiting for her white knight to come and sweep her off her feet was just the thing. She knew Francie was convinced that underneath her desire to make it in the world of corporate finance, she just wanted to make a home with the right guy. And Sydney had to recognize that maybe her friend wasn't that far off… 

"Try it on, try it on!" Francie urged her.

Repressing another sigh, Sydney obeyed. Even though she felt uncomfortable being paired so obviously and with strong romantic connotations towards Danny, she didn't want to hurt her friend.

The costume Francie had chosen for her was a full-length gown which glowed with different shades of gold. The dark, metallic yellow of the long sleeves and shoulders caught the light as she moved. The tip of the v-neck met a figure-fitting bodice of brilliant pale gold whose tone darkened suggestively in places. The ribbed material continued to hug her form down to her hips where it met a low-slung, decorative belt, showing the sleekness of Sydney's body while making the most of her modest curves. From the belt, a flaxen skirt met with the floor, forming a golden column. 

"What do you think?" Francie asked. Just a look at her was sufficient to see that she was really proud of herself.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Sydney had to admit her friend had great taste.

"It's beautiful, Fran. I wouldn't have gone for something that… uh… romantic, but… it's very nice."

"Danny is going to find you absolutely gorgeous!"

Sydney was beginning to think Francie was being a little pushy regarding her burgeoning relationship with Danny. Would he think she had sent her friend to learn about his disguise? Would he think she was going a bit far by wanting to be the other half of one of the history's most romantic couple? A bit uneasy at the thought, Sydney changed the subject.

"What did you get for yourself? And Will?" she wondered.

Francie smiled, evidently very pleased with herself.

"Oh, girl, you're going to love it! But that's a surprise…" she said mysteriously before leaving Sydney's bedroom.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Two uneventful days later, Sydney was putting the final touch ups to her flowing hairstyle. She, Francie, Will and Danny were due to leave for their friend Paula's Halloween party soon.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she sighed. She had just reached behind her head to loosely join the two portions of hair, which she had braided from the front. The hair, the dress, the light make-up… Perfect. But she wondered apprehensively how Danny would react to her costume. Would he feel as uncomfortable as she did to be paired so obviously?

Not that she didn't like Danny, because she did. But their relationship was still very recent and they hadn't exactly gone as far as calling each other girlfriend/boyfriend… She didn't want him to think she was the kind of girl that could be described as 'needy' or as 'desperate', like Francie may have led him to believe. She was already concerned enough as it was about the many things he couldn't learn about her, she didn't need him to be wrong about the things he could actually know…

But Will peeking into her room interrupted her train of thoughts.

"Syd? Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Will came in and just stood in front of her, with his mouth opened.

"Wow, Syd, you look amazing!"

"Thanks," she replied, blushing a bit. 

"That dress... and what you've done with your hair... You look like the girl in that movie you and Fran are always watching… with that guy… uh…"

"Richard Gere."

"Yeah…."

But seeing Sydney's expression, he wondered:

"What's wrong? You don't seem too enthusiastic."

Sydney sighed once more.

"Danny is going to be wearing a knight's costume…" she said in a low voice.

"And…?"

"What would you be thinking if a girl you've only been on a couple of dates with, showed up dressed as your romantic counterpart?" 

Will winced. Now he understood her reservations.

"Don't worry, Syd, he probably won't make a big deal out of this," he offered, torn between his desire to reassure his friend and his hope that Danny would just run away forever.

"Yeah, I know…" she said, although it was clear she was still unsure about this. But she continued, in a cheerier tone:

"So, what are you wearing? Or is it still a secret?"

Will raised his shoulders.

"I still don't know. Fran put my costume in the guestroom. I'll go find out what it is."

The two friends shared a smile before Will walked out, in search of his answer. Sydney was now ready, so she decided that it was time to satisfy her curiosity about Francie's disguise. She walked up to her best friend's bedroom and knocked.

"Fran? Are you ready?"

A joyful voice answered.

"Come in!"

"Oh. My. God," was all that Sydney could say when she saw her friend's attire.

Francie had gotten herself a costume that could be described as a female ringmaster. She was wearing a top hat and a red coat, which was cut away at the front, with long tails at the back. But instead of a white shirt and black trousers, she had slipped into a white body with a black bow tie and black fishnets under black boots. She had just the figure for it and she looked extremely sexy.

"Fran, that's an amazing idea you had!" Sydney complimented her. Why couldn't Francie get her something more like that?

"So, now are you going to tell me what you got for Will?"

Francie opened her mouth to answer but a scream interrupted her.

"Francine Calfo!"

Sydney's eyes widened while her friend started to laugh.

"Oh, my instincts tell me you'll know in about ten seconds…"

But a mere five seconds had passed when Will, displaying an interesting look of desperation mixed with anger, barged into the room.

"Francie!"

"Yes, honey?" Francie replied, a big satisfied grin on her face.

"Fran! Is this my costume?" he asked, showing her what looked like a lion's outfit.

Francie nodded.

"Yes, honey. We're going to be so great together! The best costume prize is for us, I'm telling you!"

But Will didn't agree.

"Well you can kiss that little fantasy of yours goodbye, because there is NO WAY I'm going out dressed like that!"

Knowing she had to play nice if she wanted to win this battle, Francie gently said:

"Oh, come on Will. Lions are so… strong and…"

"Cute," Sydney added, trying not to burst out laughing. Oh, she just loved these two so much. They were the perfect antidotes to her very stressful life.

"Really?" Will asked, looking at Sydney, now perplexed.

"You'll be so huggable, all the girls are going to be after you!" Francie added.

Will sighed, beaten.

"Okay, then. But that is the LAST time I EVER let you choose my disguise."

Francie smiled in victory.

"Sure, honey, now go get dressed or we're going to be late."

With one last unsure gaze to Sydney who nodded in encouragement, Will went to get dressed, leaving the girls chuckling. When they finally regained control, Sydney asked:

"Are we all riding together?"

"Will and I will ride seperately."

"Why? Oh, don't tell me you want me and Danny to be alone," she sighed.

"Well, nothing is ever going to happen between you two if you're stuck with us," explained Francie, unaware that Danny and Sydney had kissed on their last date.

Sydney abandoned her protests, wondering at the same time why no one seemed to be able to resist Francie Calfo.

"Fine."

Right as she said that, the doorbell rang.

Danny.

Still worried about Danny's reaction to her dress, Sydney walked up to the door and opened it. Danny was standing in front of her and gasped as he looked her up and down.

"Sydney, you're… you're beautiful," he finally managed to say admiringly.

Feeling her face flush, Sydney had to admit he didn't look bad either. Far from it, actually. He looked as though he was dressed all in black aside from a burnished golden breastplate and matching gauntlets. Under his arm, he carried a helmet, which appeared to complete his set of armour.

Glad he seemed to appreciate her dress but feeling sheepish, she had to let him know that the costume was her friend's choice, not hers.

"I'm sorry, Danny… Francie is the one that chose my costume."

Danny's face was enlightened by a huge smile.

"Our little Francie is quite the matchmaker, huh? Come on, I don't mind at all. We might just win that contest after all," he joked, knowing from previous years how bad Francie wanted to win that prize.

Danny's smile was contagious. As long as he didn't feel pressured by having them going as Lancelot and Guinevere, if he actually made it out to be a big joke, well then maybe she could just have fun and enjoy her night.

Grinning, she took the hand he offered her and they made their way to Danny's car.

Time to have some fun.

Sitting at the bar in front of two beers, Vaughn and Weiss were talking about the Moscow events. Some facts still eluded Eric and he was finally getting the chance to fill in some blanks.

"It was lucky that Sydney called you from the archives room," Weiss said. "But what did she want to tell you?"

Vaughn's forehead creased as he explained:

"She had just found some documents about who her mother really was."

"You mean Anna Espinosa was telling the truth?" Weiss exclaimed, surprised.

"Yes. Sydney found proof that her mother's real name was in fact Irina Derevko, former KGB agent… and that she is still alive."

"What? Wow… I understand she needed to tell someone about that! Must be pretty hard information to deal with…"

"Yes, but I think the worst bit for her is figuring out how to tell her dad," Vaughn replied, clearly troubled. He could have taken that problem away from her by telling her Jack already knew, but it would only cause her more grief. Bristow family matters really wasn't something he needed to get in the middle of…

Weiss watched his friend carefully and waited. But Vaughn was in no hurry to spill anything else.

"Mike, it's obvious something is eating you inside, and I doubt it's your concern for Jack. What is it, bud?"

Hesitantly, Vaughn said:

"Eric, no one must know what I'm about to tell you, okay?"

"Sure, man. I won't tell a soul."

Vaughn sighed, knowing full well Jack and Devlin expected him to keep this piece of information to himself. But something had to give. Between telling Eric about his feelings for Sydney, letting her know about her dad or clearing his conscience about lying to his asset, the choice was easy to make.

"Jack knew that his former wife was a Russian spy."

"What?" exclaimed Weiss a little too loudly, attracting curious stares. "What?" he repeated in a lower voice.

"Yes, and the CIA did too. That's why they sent me to Moscow. They didn't want anybody else to know about this."

"Jeez… That's… Wow."

But realisation slowly crept inside Weiss' mind.

"Sooo… you know that Jack knows and yet you're not telling Sydney?"

"Exactly. This is between Sydney and her father. I have to give him the chance to explain things himself first."

"But you feel real guilty, huh?"

"Yes," Vaughn sighed.

"What did you tell her? I mean, she must have asked how you found her and so on…"

"Technically, I only told her the truth, but… I gave her that speech about trust and a minute later I'm keeping important information from her."

Eric put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Mike, don't beat yourself up. You're doing what you have to do. Their family matters aren't your business. Anyway, she might very well never learn you knew about this."

"I guess… But that doesn't make it any easier to look at her knowing I'm not being truthful with her."

Trying to find a way to cheer his friend up, Eric's gaze fell on Vaughn's empty beer bottle. Pointing at it, he said:

"Let me buy you another one."

But Vaughn shook his head.

"I've got to go. I'm going to see Alice and I can't be late."

Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Why not this time?"

Vaughn drew his friend a brief look before looking down at his beer for a few seconds.

"We had a big argument last night because I hadn't told her I was going away for a few days. She had tried to call me and… I'll spare you the details, but she's really mad. I'm going to see her and try to patch things up."

"You didn't tell her you were leaving for Moscow?! Even with all the risks involved? That's just so not like you man…"

"So many things were happening, it didn't even cross my mind… It should have but it didn't," Vaughn explained, sighing once more.

He and Alice had gotten so far apart… Was there still any point in staying together? They hardly even talked anymore… And now that he had realised that he had strong feelings for Sydney, he knew that keeping on with this relationship wasn't fair on Alice. Or on himself.

But if he ended it tonight… How would Alice react? It hadn't been very long since her father had died and he knew she still needed his support. Maybe he could hang on for a few more weeks and then break up with her?

Vaughn would have liked to tell Eric he was falling in love with Syd. To unload the burden and seek advice would be nice. But he knew full well that this was a Pandora box he'd better not open, particularly as he had taken the decision to stay on as her handler. Weiss would surely tell him that it was a ridiculous situation to put himself in and that really wasn't something he needed to hear right now.

Vaughn sighed, got up and took his wallet out, but Eric stopped him.

"'On me, remember?"

"Thanks."

"Good luck with Alice."

After a short nod, Vaughn left, leaving a pensive Weiss behind. Didn't his friend remember he was a spy, too? And one that had known him for a long time? It was clear Vaughn still wasn't telling him everything that was bothering him. This was probably about Sydney… Weiss was becoming more certain that Vaughn definitely had more than a little crush on her. It was at least something more like a MAJOR crush. If Vaughn wasn't entertaining strong feelings for her, he most likely wouldn't have moved heaven and earth to get her back, putting his own life at great risk in the process.

Weiss put a few dollars on the bar with a furrowed brow of his own. Maybe he would have to keep an eye on his friend for a while. After the way he had behaved with both Jack and Devlin, after the way he had jeopardised his own safety, in no time at all to save Sydney… Preventing him from making more mistakes was the right thing to do.

That's what friends were for.

It was still early the next morning when Sydney woke up and the house was still silent. Looking back on the night's events, she realised that it had had its ups and downs.

Although Danny had turned the whole thing in a joke and didn't mind the reference to one of the most romantic couples ever, Sydney's costume had been a source of discomfort for her all night. No wonder Francie and Will won first prize on the night for their outfits!

Sydney smiled to herself. Francie was so happy to win! And she deserved it. She had been a genius for choosing those costumes and had adopted the spirit of her disguise so much better than herself, therefore impressing the judges. Considering that Sydney played other people so often in her line of work, it was really ironic that on this occasion, Francie had been better at pretending! And even though she was happy for her friend, it was kind of frustrating to be outplayed by an amateur, Sydney joked to herself.

But she had had a great time with Danny. He was so funny! When she was with him she completely forgot about her job. She felt like she was this totally normal young woman and that was such a priceless feeling. Sydney couldn't deny the admiration she saw in his eyes made her feel so good! It meant so much to her that a man like him could maybe fall in love with her REAL self, as opposed to te person she had to be when she slipped inside the spy world…

Yes, she and Danny had really gotten closer last night… Sydney turned onto her side, blushing as she remembered their goodnight kiss… uh… kisses. There hadn't exactly been sparks flying when they made out, but still, she was recalling the moment fondly when she was startled by a vibration on her bedside table.

Her pager.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Making sure she still wasn't being followed, Sydney took a right turn and entered the cinema's parking lot. Inside, she would meet with Vaughn to go over the countermission. In fact, he was pretty much only going to give her the necessary op-tech, the mission SD-6 had given her being basically a repetition of the one she had fulfilled back in Tuscany.

After being paged by SD-6 this morning, she had immediately called back and was told there would be a meeting later in the afternoon. There, she had learned of SD-6's discovery: they had only received part of Hassan's account sequence in Tuscany. Sydney and Dixon had been awarded the task of going to Geneva to get a hold of the rest of the numbers. They were set to leave in two hours.

Sydney went inside the theatre and yawned as she bought her ticket. The previous night had been short and the upcoming one wouldn't be much longer, as it was now 11:20pm. The meeting was scheduled in ten minutes.

Auditorium number 5 was totally empty at this late hour, but given the crappy movie being screened she wasn't really surprised. She wondered if Vaughn had chosen this movie because he wanted to see it or because he thought they could be alone. Sitting in this comfortable chair, Sydney closed her eyes, trying to deduce what type of moviegoer he was. Slowly, she slipped into slumber…

She was at Paula's Halloween party, looking for Danny. The house was dark and feeling disorientated, she was getting a bit worried. Where was she? She could hear a general party noise, but it was muted and she couldn't work out where it was coming from exactly. Walking around, she finally found herself in front of a heavy wooden door. Still with thoughts of finding Danny, she opened it.

She took a few steps inside when suddenly she felt two hands encircle her waist from behind. She turned around and her hands met with a smooth, metal chest. Even though she couldn't see him, she was relieved to recognise Danny, as he had been the only knight at the party.

Without a word, he wrapped his arms tightly around her while she rested her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes as a wonderful feeling diffused inside of her… She had never felt so safe, so comfortable, so… in love. Almost tearing up from the realisation, she opened her eyes and raised her head.

In the darkness, slowly, they both leaned in until their lips met… Sydney had never experienced anything like it. The love she felt in his kiss just overwhelmed her…

When at last his soft lips left hers, she looked up and, even though they could barely see anything, she could feel the weight of his searching gaze. She felt a growing need to see him, to touch him. Tenderly, she put her hand on his face and felt him begin to smile. She grinned too, and gently went on stroking...her fingers trailed slowly from his warm temple, then across his strong jaw, before the pad of her thumb settled upon his cleft chin.

Cleft chin? Danny didn't have one of those…

All of a sudden, a light went on nearby, throwing some brightness from behind her. Finally, the veil of gloom was lifted and she was allowed a good look at the man in front of her.

She wasn't looking at brown eyes like she had expected. She stood back a little to take in the whole face…

"Vaughn?" she exclaimed, waking up at the same time.

"You sound surprised?" he smiled, releasing her arm from his gentle grip. "Sorry to wake you up, but I can't wait to head to bed myself," he added seriously, running his hand through his messy hair.

"It's okay," she said, straightening herself up. Momentarily frozen in excruciating awkwardness, Sydney forced the images of her dream from her mind and struggled to regain her senses.

She glanced at her watch and realised she had slept about half an hour. She frowned.

"You should have woken me up sooner."

Vaughn leaned back in his seat with a sigh.

"I just got here. I was afraid you'd be gone."

She looked at him carefully, trying to read him. As far as she knew, Michael Vaughn was never late. That just wasn't the type of guy he was.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." he replied, avoiding her gaze, which caused Sydney's suspicions to grow.

"Did you have a fight with your girlfriend?" she asked gently.

He raised his head as if he had been jolted by electricity.

"What makes you think I had a fight with Alice?"

She was taken aback but still replied:

"I don't know. Did you?"

For a second, Vaughn considered lying to her and saying no. Sharing details about his intimate life with his forbidden love certainly wasn't a smart thing to do. But he just couldn't stand the idea of lying to her again…

"We broke up last night. Actually, I just went to pick up a few things I had left at her apartment."

"Oh," said Sydney flatly. She felt like she should offer more and added:

"I'm sorry."

It wasn't much, but he waved his hand as if to brush off any unnecessary concern anyway.

"Don't be. It had been coming for a long time."

They shared a look.

"Here's the transmitting device. Good luck in Geneva."

"Thanks."

XXXXXXXXX

The plane was flying over Portugal when Sydney woke up, awoken by the ringing of Dixon's cell phone. He kept his voice down when he answered and walked away so he wouldn't bother his partner, but the damage was done. Anyway, she wasn't tired anymore, having managed to sleep almost the entire flight since departing from Los Angeles.

The problem was that although her body was relaxed, her mind was far from that. The dream she had had before meeting Vaughn still haunted her.

But it was an easy dream to analyse. Of course, Vaughn had saved her in Russia, he had been her knight in shining armour. 'No wonder she was grateful to him; he had risked his life to save hers…

And who could blame her for kissing him in a dream? He was attractive, she found him attractive, so what? Her handler happened to be a hot guy and she wasn't blind. End of story.

But still something bothered Sydney. How could a dreamed kiss stir such emotion within her? Those feelings had been tangible, there had been no soft focus in her dream, it had felt so real. How could an illusion shake her up like this?  
Before being able to stop the realisation forming, she had to admit that her real kisses with Danny never made her feel that way, never consumed her emotionally. Their kisses were good but they didn't leave her breathless or in total awe, like the kiss of her dream had.

Well, of course they hadn't! It was only a dream; that was why it had been such a magical kiss! Passionate kisses shooting pleasure to the very core of your soul just didn't happen in real life, she lectured herself. It made a lot of sense and she felt relieved for having rationalized things away. The last thing she needed was to develop a foolish crush on her handler!

Having such thoughts was almost funny. They were so irrational! Even if she were, hypothetically of course, to develop feelings for Michael Vaughn, ABSOLUTELY nothing could come of it regardless, because of protocol. He had just gotten out of a relationship anyway. Really! The very idea was ridiculous. So much so, that she was now completely reassured, that she would have no problems looking at Vaughn the next time they met.

At this point, Dixon came back to sit by her side, putting an abrupt end to her thoughts.

"Sleep well?" he asked nicely.

"Yes. You?"

"Okay."

There was a short pause before Dixon went on:

"Syd?" he asked, looking at her right in the eye.

"Yeah?"

"I know you're hiding something from me."

Sydney's heart skipped a beat and she felt like all her blood was draining from her body. Where on earth did Dixon's statement come from? She tried to remain outwardly calm, but the fear of having been discovered was hard to overcome.

"W-what? Why would you say that?"

"Syd, I've known you for many years and I can tell something is wrong."

"Well, obviously the last weeks have been rough…" she said, referring to her father.

"That's the problem. The Sydney I know would have refused to think her dad could have been a traitor; she would have tried to find her own truth. And yet you've done nothing. I'm surprised."

"Dixon… Do I need to tell you how horrible it's been lately? Of course, it's really hard to believe my father could have done something like that. But the fact is that I don't even really know him that well. And Sloane showed me proof of his duplicity."

"Couldn't these proofs have been forged? I mean, I don't know Jack that well either, but I find it difficult to believe he could have joined the Man's organisation…"

"Do you mean… do you mean you don't trust Sloane?" she asked, a tiny hope forming inside of her.  
Nice add-on.

"No, I do trust him," said Dixon as he winced, seemingly frustrated at having conveyed the opposite idea. "But maybe this misinformation comes from higher up… or from a double agent inside the Alliance. I don't know. But Syd… I just wanted to tell you… if you ever decided to investigate on your own… I'll help you."

Sydney fought the tears that formed in her eyes. Her partner was such a good man, lying to him was just an awful feeling. She seriously wondered if there was any way she could tell him the truth about SD-6?

"Thanks, Dixon. Your offer means a lot to me. I'll think about it."

XXXXXX

It was almost 10pm that Monday night when Sydney finally stopped her old SUV in front of her house. The mission had been completed without any problem, as she had been able to beam the codes to both SD-6 and the CIA.

Francie's car wasn't there and the house was dark. Sydney was perplexed, until she remembered that her roommate had her first tae-kwon-do lesson that night. Entering the place, she smiled, recalling how she had to turn down Francie's offer of going together. Francie had tried to encourage her, unaware that Sydney's fears were that she would already be more experienced than the teacher…

She put down her travel bag and her keys, turned the lights on and took a step toward the living room, but then stopped abruptly. Someone was sitting on her couch.

"Hello, sweetheart."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"Dad!"

Sydney's surprise was instantly replaced by pleasure and she strode to meet him, as he did likewise. They gratefully clung one onto the other in a sincere hug, then she pulled back to look at him with shining eyes.

"Vaughn told me you were okay, but I'm so glad to see that myself!"

"Me too," Jack said as he glanced down at their joined hands. "I'm relieved to know you're safe too."

"Your contact at the CIA probably told you I was fine. You shouldn't be here, it's too dangerous! If Sloane ever found out…" said Sydney with evident concern.

She noticed his face retake its more usual, serious expression.

"I'm here because there is something important I needed to tell you in person."

"Actually, I've got something to tell you, too…" she said, wondering sadly how she could break the news to him, so it could be less of a shock.

But just as she was lamenting the fact that she wouldn't be able to work up to choosing her moment, her father said the last thing she expected.

"Sydney, what you want to tell me… I already know."

"What? Dad, no, you don't. I just found out-"

"I know your mother was KGB." 

"No… How…" she stuttered in bewilderment.

"I found out 25 years ago. That's how I knew about the secret passageway into the K-Directorate headquarters."

"No… You…"

Confusion was overwhelming her. She internally willed herself to get it together and immediately, a burning anger invaded her.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me? And don't say it was to protect me! First you let me work for terrorists for seven years, then this? I can't believe you could do this to me!"

"You must try to understand, Sydney. I didn't want to hurt you… I thought-"

"Never mind what you thought!" she interrupted briskly. "I risked my life and even Vaughn's, to learn about something you could have told me?"

"Sweetheart…"

"Don't sweetheart me! You've never acted like a father to me! When you came back into my life… I tried to be understanding, I gave you a chance to be a father again… and this is how you thank me? By lying to me about my own mother? All this time, I thought she was dead and you knew she wasn't… How could you?"

"I knew she was KGB, but I only learned she was alive from Agent Vaughn. Before that I-"

"W-what?"

The mention of his name floored her all over again and her faltering speech returned.

"You mean, Vaughn… Vaughn knows that you know?"

This additional revelation was too much. Sydney felt her legs quickly grow weak under her churning stomach. She felt sick. Vaguely aware of the couch behind her, she let herself slump down, into it, sighing as she fell.

"Sydney, it is imperative that you tell me exactly what proof you have that Derevko's death in that river was a set up."

She blanched at her father's cold, determined tone.

"Is that why you came here? To get more information?"

"Sydney…"

"Get out! Get out now!" she barked as she jumped on her feet.

With a contrite look, Jack obeyed his daughter and left. She followed him to the door and locked it forcefully. That's when, with her hand still on the lock and her head resting against the wooden door, the nausea she already felt just got even worse. Two new betrayals to add to the list, she thought as she felt the tears rolling down her cheeks.

Somehow Vaughn's treason was worse than her father's, because it was totally unexpected. Her father had let her down many times, but never would she have doubted Vaughn's loyalty towards her. Was she wrong to have put her trust in him? How could he sermon her about trust, when he knew full well he wasn't being honest with her?

At these thoughts, anger took the upper hand again over self-pity and she furiously wiped her tears. She was supposed to meet with Vaughn in two hours for debriefing, but she couldn't wait here that long.

Hastily, she grabbed her jacket and keys. She was going to wait for him at the warehouse.

XXX

When Vaughn walked into the warehouse, a few minutes before the scheduled meeting, he was surprised to see that Sydney was already there, pacing.

Entering the fenced area, he opened his mouth to greet her, but he closed it when he noticed her fiery eyes and arms crossed on her chest.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, concerned, praying her palpable anger wasn't aimed at him.

"I just saw my father," she said coldly, her eyes never leaving his.

Vaughn felt the walls closing in on him. She didn't have to say anything else for him to know his omission had been discovered.

"Sydney…" he began. But she cut him off before he could say anything else.

"How could you? I've been torturing myself for days, wondering how to break the news to him, and you knew he had already found out!? And you said nothing?

"I'm sorry, Sydney. I had to give your father the chance to talk to you himself."

"What an excuse! Good way to wipe your hands of any wrongdoing," she exclaimed. "Don't you remember giving me that speech about me not lying to you? You made me feel awful for trying to keep you safe and then you keep THIS hidden from me?!"

"I would have told you if he hadn't. But my role as your handler doesn't require me to get involved in your family business!" he snapped, getting irritated as she wasn't even trying to understand his point of view.

"It requires truthfulness! And yet you lied to me!"

"No, Sydney… It just wasn't my truth to tell," Vaughn pleaded, his face a picture of anguish as the depth of her hurt became clear to him.

"I thought I could trust you… Obviously, I was wrong," she said to him directly before turning away, as if she was now unable to even look at him.

Sydney stayed quiet for some moments as Vaughn watched her, wondering what to do now. He fidgeted and opened his mouth to speak, but closed it promptly when he realised he had no idea what to say.

Seemingly unaware of his indecision, she was staring attentively at an imperfection on the floor, though he doubted she could actually see it.

"I was wrong," she repeated quietly, almost to herself. "I'm always wrong."

Vaughn continued to watch her, appalled at the sad sight of her and frozen by a weight of responsibility. 

"For someone so intelligent, I'm incredibly stupid."

A cold, harsh laugh escaped from her throat. Either choosing to ignore Vaughn or having forgotten he was even there, she continued: 

"I can speak countless languages, outwit men twice my size in combat and disarm bombs, but I can't see when those closest to me are lying, betraying me."

Under Vaughn's concerned gaze, Sydney's face contorted with pain, but she stilled again and regained the faraway look in her dejected eyes.

"Sometimes… I love to go to the train station. 'Know why?"

Vaughn heard the question but sensed she wasn't looking for an answer. In fact, she didn't even look in his direction before she answered it herself. 

"I sit there, watching those normal people going to their normal jobs… And I see what I'll never have. A normal life. A normal family… Unlike me, they've got real relationships, they can be completely truthful with their loved ones, they haven't been brought up to expect deceit and betrayal…"

She paused and sighed deeply, still looking intently at the concrete floor. "I'm so tired of the lies… I need someone I can really trust…" she added weakly.

Vulnerable Sydney brought out Vaughn's unstoppable need to try and protect this woman. Forgetting her anger, he spoke before thinking:

"Sydney, you CAN trust me."

Vaughn's sudden assurance seemed to bring her round from her thoughts and she raised her head. She stared at him intensely for what seemed like an eternity, during which time he waited nervously to see if her fury had subsided. 

"You've deceived me just as my father and my mother did. Now I know that my trust is one thing I certainly can't place with you," she said abruptly.

She glared at him for a second, then turned away and left.

Feeling very heavy hearted, Vaughn stood there for some time, stunned. He still felt like he had done the right thing by letting Jack explain himself to Sydney. If only she could understand what an impossible situation he had been placed in…


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

It was very late on that November night when Sydney finally rested her head on her pillow. Although she was really tired, she just couldn't close her eyes. Her mind kept going and going with the thoughts of what could be coming in the next hours, as well as what had went on during the previous days.

The last three weeks had been really quiet. No important mission had come up and for once, Sydney had been able to focus on her studies. She had attended almost all her classes, learned some new fighting techniques at SD-6 and caught up on her paperwork. She had also gone out with Danny quite a few times and their relationship had really deepened of late.

In light of what had happened previously with Vaughn and her dad, she knew, clearer than ever, that what she really wanted out of life was normality. And that was what she had found with Danny. When she was with him, she forgot all about her day job, something that she hadn't had the opportunity to do with her previous serious boyfriend, Noah. In the past three weeks, she and Danny had done all those things normal couples did: shopped, cooked, saw movies, took walks… and one night, naturally, she had ended up staying the night at his place.

Becoming intimate with him hadn't been an earth shattering experience, but Sydney couldn't deny it had still made her feel good. It had been a while since Noah and she was only human... But more than that, Danny was so gentle, so adoring; he made her feel like a coveted treasure and that was all she needed.

Thanksgiving Day had just ended three hours ago. Since Danny's parents were still living in England, he had spent the day with her, Will and Francie. Throughout the whole evening, she had thought about how lucky she was to have such good friends. They had had many Thanksgivings together and she considered them to be the family she didn't have. But now that her dad was back in her life, she couldn't help but miss him at the table, even in spite of the massive argument they had had. She was having trouble forgiving him for keeping the truth about her mother from her, but beneath the immediate shock and hurt, she had started to understand his reasons. She had only been 6 years old when Laura Bristow had drowned. By the time she would have been old enough to understand, they were already estranged and that had lasted until very recently. Maybe he just didn't want to put his newfound relationship with her at risk from permanent damage…

A few hours ago, SD-6 had called her in for a new mission. She was to go to Brazil to retrieve a clock made by Rambaldi. Firstly, she had contacted Vaughn through the usual discussion board. He had decided that the only wise thing to do at this point was to let SD-6 get the clock. Later, Sydney would share with the CIA, any info they'd get out of it.

Upon her return, she would give him the pictures she planned on taking of the clock. But before leaving for Brazil, she was to see Vaughn in order to get the micro camera needed for that job.

Sydney sighed. The upcoming meeting with Vaughn was going to be an awkward one, considering that the last time she had seen him, she had said some pretty harsh things. After she had finally calmed down, Sydney could see why he had decided not to get involved. He was her handler, not a family counsellor…

A few times over the last weeks, she had thought about calling him to apologize, but decided against it each time. There was no point in risking both their lives to resolve a personal matter. After all, she had been convinced there would surely be a new SD-6 mission to discuss soon. She would talk to him then.

She just hadn't expected three weeks to go by before that happened…

XXX

"Come on, boy, let go of the shoelace, we're going to be late!" Vaughn lectured his dog, Donovan, as he pushed him away.

Vaughn was still tying up his first running shoe when he heard his cell phone ring in the other room. Leaving his second shoe right where it was, he hurried to find it, not wanting to miss the call in case it were to be Sydney. They were supposed to meet in a few minutes and he was afraid she'd change her mind. That would be really unprofessional of her, but maybe, since she had said she couldn't trust him anymore, she would just decide she wanted him off her case?

Since their last meeting, Vaughn had been kind of depressed. His break-up with Alice, combined with the huge fight he'd had with Sydney; the only woman he shouldn't have fell in love with, had just left him feeling dejected.

On a few occasions, he had thought about calling her in order to clear things up. Despite still believing he had acted in the only way he could have, he was ready to apologize to her for obscuring the truth. Their relationship had to be based on trust and right now, things were only going downhill… But he had decided to wait for a mission to come up first. He didn't intend on letting her know how affected he was by this whole argument. He wasn't going to let his intimate feelings for her win over his professionalism. Still, he couldn't help but wonder at least ten times a day, whether she really meant all those harsh words…

In search of reassurance, he reminded himself that he was getting to know Sydney Bristow and that she would surely have spent the last three weeks calming down. She would definitely end up understanding the difficult position he had been in.

But a part of him couldn't help worrying. He couldn't bear the thought of Sydney not being able to trust him. He had somewhat accepted the fact that she might never get to know about his love for her. If there was to be nothing else between them, at the very least, he needed to know he had her trust.

On the plane ride home from Moscow, he had vowed to stay on as her handler, making the decision to conceal his feelings so that he could protect her. But if she didn't trust him, he couldn't protect her…

If she didn't trust him anymore, then he basically had no place in her life and that idea was unthinkable to him.

Vaughn finally found his phone and checked the caller ID.

It was Weiss.

"Hey," he answered flatly.

"Mike! Bud! Happy Thanksgiving!" exclaimed a cheerful voice at the other end of the line.

Vaughn's retort was a dry one:

"It was yesterday, Eric."

"Is it that late? What time is it? Ohhh, 6:20am… Guess you're right."

"Are you drunk? Where are you?" Vaughn asked, annoyed.

"My cousin's house in Frisco. We had such a Thanksgiving, man, you wouldn't believe what-"

"Well, that's all very nice, but I've got to go," Vaughn cut him off. He really wasn't in the mood for another of Eric's stories.

"Where?"

"Work."

"But it's Sunday! What's the big emergency?" Eric yelled dramatically and a little too loudly.

Vaughn pulled the phone back slightly from his ear.

"I've got to meet Sydney. She's going on a mission to Brazil."

"So you'll finally talk with her?"

"Yeah."

"I hope it turns out okay, man. Don't forget you're the boss."

"I know."

Not picking up on his friend's signals at all, Weiss went on.

"She can be pissed off with you all she wants, you're the handler and she's the asset. Remember how you stood up to her when she was in that Berlin stadium, unwilling to give SD-6 the real code? Man, you were incredible! Did I tell you about the name I found for you then? It was Balls-"

"Go it," Vaughn said abruptly, in an effort to end the call. "Listen, I really got to go now. I'll talk to you when you're sober again."

"Okay. Don't forget I love you, buddy."

"Yeah, sure," Vaughn couldn't help but smile as he turned the phone off. He put it in his back pocket and returned to the living room. On his way there, he encountered Donovan. Something white was sticking out of his mouth…

"My shoelace! Damn!"

He rushed back to the living room to find his running shoe in really bad shape. There was a small, but gaping hole on the front, where the seam had once joined two parts of the shoe together. He didn't have time to try and find his other pair, so he persuaded himself that it really wasn't that bad. He just hoped Sydney wouldn't find any reason to look at his feet…

XXX

Within the hour, Sydney had located Vaughn, clad in running clothes and stretching beside a wooden bench, in the appointed section of the park.

Seeing him dressed the way he was, an old New York Mets t-shirt dampened with perspiration and running pants, she couldn't help but appreciate once more that he was indeed hot. Just a matter of fact observation, Sydney told herself as her eyes clung helplessly to his form. But she quickly pushed these thoughts away. She didn't need to be reminded of the dream she had had a few weeks back and the feelings it had awoken in her. Never had a kiss made her feel that way… But Sydney reassured herself by thinking that even if they weren't spies, if he had just been Mark and she Lisa, she would still be willing to bet that he wouldn't kiss like the knight in her dream. She reminded herself: kisses that shook you to the very core of your soul just didn't happen for real.

Pretending to slow down her run to approach the bench, she felt ashamed and worried. How would this meeting go? Would he accept her apologies? Would their relationship ever go back to what it was before? He must hate her right now; cursing the fateful day he had met her. She had brought him nothing but trouble since day one, she thought sadly.

As she got closer, she noticed a cute little bulldog by his side.

"Hi," she began softly, not looking at him, guilt and remorse written all over her face.

The tone of her voice helped Vaughn realise that she wasn't angry with him anymore. He felt a huge weight disappear from his tense shoulders.

Instantly relaxing, he replied:

"Hey." 

Aware that Security Section might be watching them, Sydney tried to speak furtively.

"Vaughn… before we begin… I need to apologize. I've been really unfair to you. You were right, it wasn't your place to get in the middle of our family problems. I do trust you. I hope you know that and that you will forgive me."

"Apology accepted."

"You sure?" she asked, surprised that he was prepared to accept her apology so willingly.

Vaughn smiled slightly and nodded while looking at her intently.

"But Vaughn… I don't ever want to look at you wondering if you're hiding something from me again…"

Vaughn nodded once again before sending her a brief apologetic look.

"Back on that plane from Moscow, I asked you to never lie to me again… but I should have promised you too. So I'll do it now: I promise I'll never keep anything from you again."

Sydney smiled briefly and looked down. That's when she noticed Vaughn right shoe.

"What happened to your shoe?" she asked, trying not to laugh.

"That's his fault," he said accusingly, pointing at his unsuspecting dog.

"He's cute. What's his name?"

"Donovan."

"Is he yours?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't know you had a dog."

"There is still a lot you don't know about me," he smirked. 

"Is that so, Agent Vaughn?" she chuckled discreetly, looking in the opposite direction.

He didn't add anything else and a moment or two passed before Sydney grew curious. She chanced a glance at him and found he was already surreptitiously observing her. She could immediately tell that his comment hadn't been flippant.

He was deadly serious.

For the second time that day, she found herself struggling to pull her eyes off Michael Vaughn. His gaze was so intense, like he was trying to communicate something. Before she could let herself wonder at her quickening heart rate, she forced her mind back to the job at hand: 

"Got the camera?" she questioned, trying to sound assertive.

"Yep. Ready?"

"Yes."

Vaughn took a step towards her, to make it appear like he was about to resume his running. But he pretended to stumble on Donovan's leash and sneakily gave her the camera. Then, after an almost unnoticeable smile, he went on his way.

Sydney stood there a few more seconds, looking in his direction.

She had missed him.

XXX

The next day, they found themselves reunited again at the warehouse. The mission in Brazil had been a complete success.

Sitting by Vaughn's side on a crate, Sydney was wrapping up the debrief.

"… so that's all I could gather for now, but I'll keep you posted."

"Good. Nice work once again, Sydney."

"Thanks. So, I didn't get a chance to ask you the yesterday… How was your Thanksgiving?"

"Typical. Spent it with my mom."

An uneasy silence crept between them. Vaughn didn't wish to elaborate, but he wanted to continue the conversation, aware that it was their chance to make their relationship comfortable again.

"How was yours?"

Sydney looked away wistfully and Vaughn realised what he had said. She had her friends, yes, but the only family she really had was her father and he was gone, thanks to him. They might never spend another Thanksgiving together. And he knew too well what that felt like.

Remorsefully, he ran his hands over his face.

"Oh, Syd, I'm sorry. That's entirely my fault. That whole situation. If I hadn't failed in Slovakia, your dad would still be here…"

Sydney snapped out of her bittersweet memories and what-might-have-beens to reassure him. She didn't want him to think she blamed him, as he obviously held himself responsible.

"It's okay, Vaughn, it's not your fault. I don't know why I miss him now… Especially after what he kept from me. Do you have any idea how many Thanksgivings I spent without him anyway? How many Christmases?"

By her side, Sydney noticed Vaughn nodding like he knew exactly what she meant. He was looking down and his shoulders were hunched. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts and she wondered if Vaughn's own father had lacked interest in fulfilling his role too. 

"Which milestone events did your dad never make it to?" she started lightly, trying to reach out to him.

"Oh, you know, just about all of them," Vaughn returned hastily, sarcastically casual as he got up from the crate they'd been perched on. With his back to Sydney, he proceeded to put the documents he was holding inside his briefcase and closed it, suddenly ready to put an end to this meeting.

But she couldn't let him go like that. The bitterness in his voice and the sudden coldness in his body language suggested her question had stirred bad memories within him. She felt like she should apologize.

Sydney got up too and took two steps in his direction, then, hesitantly, she squeezed his arm slightly. He stopped his movement and sighed deeply, still looking at his briefcase.

"Vaughn, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

He slowly turned his head to look at the hand that was gently grasping his arm and then raised his eyes to meet hers. Inside them, he saw how much she wished to help him, to listen to him… maybe he could even discern her need to hear that she wasn't the only one who had suffered because of a missing father… He suddenly felt the urge to tell her everything. She would understand.

"We didn't do most of the things you'd want your father to do with you, to teach you. No fishing trips like he had promised, no talk about the birds and the bees, no teaching me how to drive, because… because…"

He faltered slightly and Sydney gave his arm the tiniest of squeezes, infusing him with more reassurance. Gazing into her waiting eyes, he finally let go.

"My father died when I was eight."

Sydney's eyes briefly flickered with sadness, in recognition of the feelings Vaughn must have had and probably still continued to experience. But she didn't say anything, wanting to give him the opportunity to fill the silence if he wished to do so. She let her hand slide down his arm, hoping this gesture of solidarity would encourage him. Even though the lapse of time they had known each other had been short, he had already protected and helped her so many times; she wanted to return the favour. Right now, he needed her and she was more than willing to be there for him.

"He was a CIA agent. One day, a man in a black suit showed up on our doorstep…" his voice broke but he quickly went on:

"To this day we still don't know what happened to him… They… they had to identify him by his dental records… That's all they've told us."

"Oh, Vaughn," she began, but the sudden ringing of his cell phone interrupted her.

He looked at her with resigned regret, before answering his phone.

"Vaughn. Yeah, I'll be right there."

He slowly turned off his phone and sighed as he put it in his pocket.

"You know, Sydney… Even though I doubt your dad will ever win the Father of the Year Award… you're still lucky to have him."

With that, he grabbed his briefcase and, after a little smile, left the warehouse.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The next day, Vaughn woke up and his eyes fell on the picture of him and his dad that he kept on his bedside table. He sighed. Since the day he turned 9 years old, November 27 had always been bittersweet.

Every year on this day, he would get a call from his mother wishing him a happy birthday. And that reminded him all too cruelly, that his father would never do the same.

I'm a grown man, for God sake's, Vaughn silently admonished himself when he felt the tears stinging his eyes. Why was it so hard this year? It should become easier as time went by…

But it didn't. As he neared the age his father had been when he was killed, Vaughn caught himself thinking about him more and more. The sad thing was that he talked about it less and less, which only made it more difficult to bear.

Vaughn rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling intensely, trying to understand how he had been able to open up to Sydney. He hadn't said that much to her, but the things left unsaid, the things his body language had revealed, had exposed his soul even more efficiently. Exposed him more than he had ever been capable of before with anyone, including Weiss and even Alice.

How come he had felt so at ease with her? It wasn't just because she had been through the same thing he had? Vaughn ran both his hands over his face, knowing all too well what had happened. He had let his feelings for Sydney take over his good sense. If he started walking down this road, something inappropriate was bound to happen.

He would have to be more careful in the future.

XXX

"… an agent from SD-3 has been able to get some information on Khasinau. The problem is that this agent, Philips, is under deep cover in Poland," Sloane explained to the agents sitting at the table.

On this grey and rainy morning, Sydney was having a tough time focusing on what Sloane was saying. Even though she should be really excited about the prospect of learning more about Khasinau and his organisation, including her mother, she couldn't help but think about the new side of Vaughn she had seen the previous day. It really meant a lot that he had been able to talk to her about something so close to his heart. Seeing how he still seemed to hurt from the loss of his father, her heart really went out to him.

She was strangely comforted by the fact that he could understand, to some extent, what she had gone through. She too had 'lost' her mother when she was a child and still suffered from it. The fact that her mother wasn't really dead was another story entirely.

Sloane's quietly assertive voice brought her back to reality when he concluded:

"Sydney, Dixon, you're going to Krakow to obtain the microchip where his findings are stored. Your plane leaves in two hours. That'll be all."

XXX

As soon as she got home, Sydney hurried to contact Vaughn in order to get her countermission. As usual, 'Boy Scout' was online. To ensure a quick reply to Sydney's messages, this board was closely monitored at the CIA. Quickly, she sent him a message detailing the mission she had been assigned by SD-6, then proceeded to pack while she waited for the answer. Finally, the following message appeared on her screen:

"Hi, Freelancer. You'll make a copy of the chip. What is your favourite kind of flower?"

She raised her eyebrows, puzzled. What did her taste in flowers have to do with anything?

"Daisies. Why? :confused:" she typed, curious about Vaughn's answer to her question.

"Good, I was afraid you'd say roses. My discretional budget is running thin. Good luck in Krakow."

"Heyyyyy!" she wrote.

He wasn't going to get away with this so easily.

" :lol: Since you are in a hurry, I'll send you the necessary optech so you don't have to come all the way to meet me. You'll receive a delivery from 'Juanita Florist' in a few minutes", he explained.

Although she recognised how professional he was in making that decision, Sydney was briefly disappointed that they weren't going to meet today. She then smiled, picturing him in front of his computer, thinking he was so funny…

"Ha. Ha. Ha", she wrote, trying to think of a witty reply. "Thought you were asking for personal purposes."

That would destabilize him for sure.

"I'll send you some flowers when we spend a whole month without arguing.;)"

She laughed. Since she loved flowers, she would make an extra effort to be nice.

"Deal."

"See you when you return, Freelancer."

"Take care, Boy Scout."

XXX

Vaughn walked out of his office and approached Weiss, who was sitting at his desk, making notes from files.

"I need you to take care of Sydney for me," announced Vaughn suddenly.

Weiss continued to scan his papers.

"I know, half a can of the dry stuff," he answered absently without looking up.

"What?"

Weiss ceased reading at his friend's perplexed tone and finally looked up.

"I heard you were going to Langley," he explained, thinking Vaughn was unaware word had gotten round the office.

"Yes," Vaughn chuckled, "but that's not what I asked you! I wanted you to take care of Sydney's debrief!"

Weiss started to laugh too and couldn't resist quipping:

"Oops, I doubt she'd like dog food!"

Vaughn raised an eyebrow and touched the underside of his nose with the back of his finger, in a futile effort to hide his amusement at the bizarre image that remark had concocted.

When the two agents sobered up, Vaughn said:

"Come here, I'll tell you what you need to know."

Weiss got up and followed, into Vaughn's office.

"Why have you been called to Langley?"

"They want me to talk to the agents in training there about how I solved the Santoro case," Vaughn answered as he took his gun from a drawer.

"Oh, yeah, the one that earned you a promotion and the incredible chance to work with me?"

"Yeah, that one," Vaughn smirked as he secured the gun into the holster he was already wearing. "So, you'll replace me as Sydney's handler while I'm gone."

"I've heard that one before."

But Vaughn was happy to assure Weiss:

"Well, this time it's only for a few days."

"Should I cancel your birthday beers?"

"No, I'll be back by Saturday."

"Good," affirmed Weiss. "Seeing you drunk always makes my day."

Vaughn decided not to mention Happy Thanksgiving phone calls after Thanksgiving, and reached for his jacket.

"This is her complete file," he said pointing to one on his desk. "She's gone to Krakow to copy a microchip holding info on Khasinau. You'll have to debrief her when she returns. If there's anything, you call me. And please, avoid talking about my private life," he pleaded, remembering how the last time those two had talked Eric had ended up telling Sydney about that stupid bet. "Got it?"

"Yeah," shrugged Weiss.

"Weiss?" Vaughn needed to be sure his buddy had paid particular attention to that last instruction.

Weiss met Vaughn's solemn gaze and nodded.

"I've got it, Mike."

Vaughn studied his friend and decided he meant it.

"Thanks," he said as he finished slipping his jacket on.

He then tossed his house keys to Weiss.

"I need you to feed Donovan too."

"Which key is to the front?" he asked as he inspected the collection.

Vaughn spoke quickly as he put a few last things into his briefcase.

"That's the top lock, that's the bottom lock. Give him a can of the dog food that's on the floor of the cupboard and half a can of the dry stuff. But only a half of a can. There's a bag of the dry stuff next to the canned stuff."

"Right. Have a nice time in Langley."

"Thanks. And remember: half a can only. I don't want to come back to a fat dog," warned Vaughn with a knowing smile.

Weiss matched his grin before conceding:

"Alright."

XXX

At this early hour, the museum was pretty much empty. Looking discreetly around her, Sydney was admiring the beautiful paintings that adorned the walls. The meeting with the SD-3 agent wasn't scheduled for another 12 minutes, so she had time to play art junkie. At one point, she saw a superb image of large, dazzling daisies, which immediately made her think about Vaughn. She smiled to herself, remembering the lovely bouquet she had received just before leaving. Too bad they would probably be history by the time she got back home… There had been a beautiful, engraved compact hidden in those blooms. It opened to reveal a state of the art, chip-copying device.

Slowly, Sydney continued to look appreciatively at the artwork, until she stopped in front of the Chagall painting that was to be the meeting point with agent Philips.

Dixon was standing a little further away in the gallery, watching the entrance, when a man dressed casually entered the room. Dixon was about to warn his partner that their contact had arrived, when he noticed that the man was staggering. Intrigued, he watched him for a second before all of a sudden, the SD-3 agent collapsed.

"Syd!" Dixon called, drawing his gun.

Sydney quickly turned around and on seeing Philips on the floor, she ran to him. That's when she became aware of the puddle of blood that was growing with every second.

"Dixon, he's been shot!" she shouted.

"Syd, we've got to go! He must have been followed! Take the chip and let's go!"

"My… watch…" the agent managed to say. His words came out weakly, either side of a splutter.

"It's in your watch?" Sydney asked as she took the watch off his arm.

"Yes…" he practically exhaled, as his breathing became increasingly laboured.

It was obvious that he didn't have much longer to live. Sydney hated the fact that she couldn't help this man. Maybe he was just like she had been a few months ago: risking her life for the bad guys when she thought she had been working for the good of her country.

Slowly hesitating, Sydney got up, unable to detach her eyes from the dying agent.

"Syd!"

Dixon was getting impatient and Sydney knew he was right. Quickly, she looked away and they left before anyone had noticed the man they were leaving to die on the floor.

XXX

Sydney and Dixon were sitting in front of one another on a plane bound for Los Angeles. Between them was a small table, upon which lay Philips' watch. A moment ago, she had taken it out of her purse and opened it, to get the microchip.

"There it is," she announced, examining the chip.

Dixon was watching with interest, while she was wondering how in the world she would be able to copy the chip without him noticing.

"Great," Dixon replied with a satisfied grin. "Sloane will be happy."

"Yeah," she said pensively, knowing perfectly well this chip could be holding information about her mother.

Dixon put his hand over Sydney's in an effort to comfort her.

"Syd, I know this microchip may hold clues about your father's exact involvement in Khasinau's organisation. I'm sorry you had to be the one to retrieve this information."

She mentally cursed herself. How could she forget about that? She would have to be more careful playing the part of the betrayed daughter. Not like it had never happened to her, she thought sarcastically.

"I'm okay, don't worry," she replied with a weak smile. "Seeing agent Philips die like this to give us this information… I hate it."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. No matter how many times you see people die, you never get used to it… But at least he died for his country, and there is no greater honour."

The idea that this man had given his life for terrorists, just made Sydney feel like she was going to throw up. What if it ever happened to Dixon? What if he gave his life for a bunch of bad guys? She would never forgive herself for not having told him the truth…

"Now give me this precious chip," Dixon said smiling, trying to lighten the tone of their conversation. "I'll put it in the container Marshall gave us."

"It's in my bag in the back. I need to go to the bathroom anyway, I'll put the chip inside on my way."

Dixon nodded and a relieved Sydney went to the back of the plane, copied the chip while pretending to rummage through her bag before securing both copies of it.

Mission accomplished.

XXX

The following evening, when Sydney arrived at the warehouse to hand the microchip to the CIA, she was surprised to find Weiss instead of Vaughn.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey… Where's Vaughn?" she wondered anxiously.

She feared Eric's answer. What if something bad had happened to him?

"In Langley. He was called in yesterday," Weiss reassured her.

"When is he coming back?"

"I don't know exactly, but he'll be here by Saturday. He told me not to cancel his birthday beers."

"Birthday? It's Vaughn's birthday?"

"Yeah, back on Wednesday."

"Another milestone…" she whispered, more to herself, but Weiss heard.

"What do you mean?"

Sydney was a bit embarrassed, but explained:

"I just… I was just thinking how ambivalent he must be about his birthday… you know, without his dad…"

"He spoke to you about his dad?!" Eric couldn't help but exclaim.

"Yeah, what's the big deal? " she said, although she had sensed that this was a difficult thing for him to talk about.

Suddenly remembering how his friend had warned him not to talk about his private life, Weiss tried to play down his reaction.

"Well, I just mean… uh, you know, that's not something he shares with everybody," he explained. But even as he did so, Weiss realised that he had just said too much again. If there was one thing Vaughn didn't need, it was for Sydney to know he had feelings for her.

"Oh, I see," she said, unable to keep a shy smile from blossoming. Vaughn thought he could confide in her? Maybe because she had been through the same thing he had?

But whatever his reasons for telling her about his father, she felt strangely happy that he had.

XXX


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"Did everything go well in Langley?" Sydney asked Vaughn.

At this early hour, they were just beginning their meeting. They needed to talk about the information the CIA had found on the microchip Sydney and Dixon had retrieved in Poland. For a change, Vaughn had set their rendezvous point on the top of an L.A. building.

"Yes, thank you. I had some meetings with agents, about a case I worked. But it all went smoothly and I got the chance to see some old friends…"

He smiled a little and then went on:

"So, Weiss told me about the mission in Krakow. Good work copying that chip."

"Thanks…" she said, cringing internally when she remembered how Agent Philips had died. She wished Vaughn had been the one to debrief her that night, instead of Weiss. He would have found a way to comfort her. But now it was too late.

Needing to change the subject, she continued:

"The flowers were lovely, by the way. I think it's a very good way to send me optech," she joked through a big, dimpled smile that seemed to make her shine with radiance.

"I'll remember that…" Vaughn tailed off, more than a little mesmerized.

They shared a grin before he looked down at his watch and became serious.

"Well, we've had that chip analyzed, as SD-6 probably has too."

"Yes. We had a meeting about it yesterday."

"Then you probably know that Khasinau is really unpopular. SD-6, CIA and K-Directorate are all hunting him. K-Directorate has even hired a freelance assassin to kill him."

"I wouldn't like to be in is shoes," Sydney commented wryly.

"Me neither. It also seems that Khasinau has access to a computer that may have information, as to what Rambaldi's project might have been."

"Yeah, Sloane told us that too. He also said that the chip contains evidence that the Russian Mafia is funding Khasinau. Is that true?"

"Yes. Khasinau seems to be a real bad guy."

Sydney pondered over that for a moment before asking the question that had been tormenting her.

"Was there anything on the chip about Irina Derevko?"

Even if she could barely see his eyes behind his sunglasses, she knew that they expressed concern for her.

"Nothing. Which is almost strange, considering how he had been involved in her mission in America…"

"Or maybe… Do you think it's possible she just disappeared after she left the KGB? I mean, could she have left the 'business' altogether? Maybe she is now just a lowly sales clerk in a Peruvian Wal-Mart?"

He burst out laughing. That was probably the last thing he would have expected her to say. He re-composed himself and went on:

"I don't know, Syd. But we'll find out. I'll do everything I can to find her," he said with his intense gaze upon her.

"Thanks," she managed to say, knowing he meant it. She believed he would help her if he humanly could and that knowledge touched her.

Again, Vaughn used official business to keep his mind from wandering:

"Did Sloane say anything about Jack? I mean, did he say the chip contained proof that Jack was working for the Man?"

"Yes. He even showed me more 'evidence' that my father had been a double for a while," she explained, jaw clenched. "I hate that man. I hate him with all I've got."

"You'll get your revenge in time, Sydney."

"I know. I just hope it's soon," she sighed. She then looked at the time and saw she would have to hurry if she didn't want to be late for work. "I've got to go."

"Me too. Be strong, Sydney," Vaughn said, but she could hear the worry in his voice.

"I will," she replied solemnly, trying to reassure him. She would never give up. Bringing down the Alliance was the only way to ensure her father's safety and any decent kind of life for herself.

Sydney was just about to leave when she remembered:

"How was your birthday?"

Vaughn was clearly surprised.

"How do you know about that?" he asked, but as he spoke he had found his answer.

"Weiss," they said at the same time, which amused them.

"Jeez, I might have known, even after I told him," Vaughn said, rolling his eyes.

Sydney threw him a quizzical look, not understanding what he meant exactly. But Vaughn just shrugged and said:

"It's nothing, but yes, I had a good time with the guys. Thanks."

"Actually, I wasn't asking about when you went out for drinks, I was asking about Wednesday… Did you get through okay?"

From her tone and their eye contact, he was able to tell exactly what she was referring to. He was moved by her concern.

"It wasn't any easier but yeah, I got through," he answered, his voice low.

After a warm smile, Sydney turned to leave again, but he just had to thank her.

"Sydney!"

She stopped and looked at him. Feeling nervous and unused to someone seeing this vulnerable side of him, he began:

"Thanks for..."

He had thought to explain exactly why he was thanking her, but in her eyes he saw that she already knew.

"Thanks," he repeated.

She smiled genuinely and left.

XXX

About twenty minutes later, Sydney arrived at Credit Dauphine. It was a gorgeous day and going to work inside the shady SD-6 offices, made her sigh deeply as she entered the building. She then had to wait a while before the elevator finally arrived, which only caused her irritation to grow.

The doors were starting to close when she noticed Marshall running towards her, wanting to catch the elevator. Sydney held the doors for him and he got inside. For a few seconds he only smiled and nodded in thanks, as he tried to regain his breath.

Finally, he said:

"Hey, Agent Bristow, I mean, Miss Br-"

Seeing that her brow was furrowed, he stopped himself and said, with an apologetic smile:

"… Sydney. Hi."

"Hey Marshall. How are you?" she said nicely.

"Good. Well… I just realised that something is missing."

"What?" she wondered.

"Yeah, okay, let's see if you can guess. What month are we in now?"

"December."

"Right, yeah, excellent. And where are we now?"

"… uh… right now?"

"Yes."

"Elevator… do you mean… you'd like to hear some Christmas songs?"

Oh my, thought Sydney, was Christmas almost here already? She had been so busy lately; she hadn't even had a second to make any plans. She made a mental note to talk with Danny about this. After all, it would be their first Christmas together...

"Yes! You aren't one of SD-6's top agents for nothing! It would put us in a Christmassy mood…" he said, before adding pensively, "I think I'll go and talk to Mr. Sloane about this."

Just as Marshall finished his sentence and Sydney was trying to conceal a giggle, the elevator came to a sudden stop.

"What's going on?" he exclaimed, grabbing Sydney's arm.

"The elevator stopped, Marshall," she said reassuringly.

"We must be in emergency lock-down procedure!" Marshall informed her, with a panicked look on his face.

"Or maybe the elevator is just broken?" she said with a smile, knowing Marshall had a tendency to assume the worst. "I'll call security."

Grabbing the red phone, Sydney waited for somebody to answer. But nobody did.

"No answer," she commented, apprehension slowly creeping into her mind.

"Miss… Sydney, this isn't normal!"

"Don't worry Marshall. I'll try to call front desk with my cell phone."

But she wasn't luckier. Out of desperation, she tried Dixon's phone, but once again, got no results.

As she put her phone back in her purse, she made her decision.

"Now this is strange… We have to find out what is going on. Come on!"

"Come on where?" Marshall asked before following her gaze to the elevator ceiling. He began shaking his head forcefully.

"No, no! I'm not… I can't…"

"Marshall, we have no choice. Come on, I'll help you!"

"Go, I'll wait for you," he tried.

Sydney looked at him right in the eye.

"If what you say is true… If we are under attack… Then they are going to search the whole building to make sure they have everybody. They'll make sure there isn't anyone in this elevator. You understand me?" she said calmly.

His eyes opened wide with fear, Marshall nodded.

"Now we don't have a second to waste. Let's go!"

Quickly, with Marshall's help, Sydney opened the trap and pulled herself on top of the elevator. She then heaved her co-worker up and closed the trap.

Just as she did so, they heard the elevator doors open and two men speaking.

"Nobody here either. Tell Cole that the building is secured."

"Okay."

They walked away, leaving a very pale Marshall and a determined Sydney.

"That was close," she whispered. "We should get to the surveillance room. We might be able to discover what is going on here."

Marshall didn't answer.

"Marshall! I need your help with this. Are you going to be okay?"

He nodded slowly.

"Good. Follow me."

XXX

Moving quietly and carefully, the duo had been able to leave the elevator shaft and get to the surveillance room without any unpleasant encounters. They were now finally sitting side by side, looking at the screens.

"Where is everybody?" Marshall wondered as he switched the images rapidly on the monitors.

Right at that moment, he saw them.

All the SD-6 employees, agents, secretaries… They were all sitting on the floor, surrounded by four men armed with machine guns.

"Oh my God," he gasped. "We've been taken over!"

"Where's Sloane? I don't see Sloane!" Sydney said resolutely.

Hurriedly, Marshall continued to search the building until he found Sloane in a small room near the vaults.

The SD-6 boss was tied up, in a chair. Two armed intruders were pointing their guns at him as a third man, late thirties and wearing a dark suit, entered the room.

"Arvin, I've missed you, you little devil!" the man said in his nasal voice.

Sloane barely flinched.

"McKenas Cole. It's a shame you're not really dead."

"Tss tss, Arvin, be nice. I'm the boss, now."

"What do you want?" Sloane asked calmly.

"I want something of yours… something from your vault."

"For whom?"

"The man we call… the Man," Cole replied, chuckling at his own gag. "He pays much better than you do, Arvinbaby. Oh, and he's also a lot meaner than you are. If you knew what he's allowed me to do to you if you resist…" he winced for affect. "So, it would be in your best interest to hand me the access codes to the vault and fast."

Sydney and Marshall had not lost one word of this exchange.

"I'm not giving you those codes."

"No, no!" Marshall suddenly exclaimed. "Give him the codes!" he shouted at the screen.

Meeting Sydney's interrogative stare, he explained:

"Sloane must have activated the failsafe measures."

"What?"

"Mr. Sloane is the only one who can activate this measure. If someone tries to open the vault, boom! … I mean… the building is rigged with three charges of C-4."

"Marshall, is there any way we could stop them? Stop them from finding the access codes to the vault?"

"I don't know how to stop them, but if we had a scrambling device, we could try to slow them down."

"Where can I find one?"

"In my office, but… Hey, you're not thinking about going there? I mean… Don't leave me here… alone."

With a steely gaze, she assured him:

"Don't worry. I'll be back in no time." 


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Before heading to Marshall's office to recover a scrambling device, Sydney needed two things: a gun and a bullet-proof vest. Progressing carefully, she was able to get to a storage room where she found what she was looking for.

While loading her gun, she thought about what she was going to try doing. Multiple thoughts were rushing inside her head.

Would she be able to get the scrambler without being seen?

How would she be able to find and deactivate the charges of C-4?

Would all her co-workers survive the attack?

What was in that vault?

Would she see Vaughn again?

And Danny? What would he think of her, if the fact that she was a spy came out in the open?

But there was no time to waste with those questions. The whole building could blow up at any second.

XXX

From the surveillance screens, Marshall was able to see Sydney enter his office from the airshaft. He just hoped the scrambling device really was where he had told her. Organization wasn't his primary quality, he knew it, but he promised himself that he would put more effort into cleaning up, if only Sydney could get out of this alive.

He saw her heading to the right drawer of his desk, just like he had told her, and pick up the small device.

"Yes!" Marshall exclaimed, jumping up as if his favourite team had just scored. Seeing her getting back in the airshaft, he quickly switched the images on the monitor to find a view of the vault. The room was empty. Trailing his finger on the blueprint of the air ducts, he went back to following Sydney's progression.

She came into view a minute later. He watched as she placed the device on the vault, before retreating quickly to the airshaft in escape. A smile had already formed on Marshall's face, when McKenas Cole and a few of his men arrived in the vault room. To his horror, Marshall saw that they had heard Sydney's movement. Cole gestured to his men and they opened fire into the airshaft.

In a flash, Marshall understood that he had to do something. Sydney held a much better chance of saving the day than he did. He had no choice.

He made sure Sydney would see the message he had left for her on the table and then, as fast as he could, he entered the airshaft.

XXX

Vaughn sat in his office, looking blankly at his computer screen. He had been that way for long minutes; unable to think about anything other than the conversation he had had with Sydney earlier. She would probably never know it, but talking to her about his father and his birthday had comforted him immensely. Knowing she was there for him, as a friend, meant so much to him. He had thought that after admitting his feelings to himself, they might not have plagued him at all times of the day. That wasn't turning out to be the case. Never had Vaughn felt so connected with someone…

Vaughn was so absorbed in his thinking that he didn't hear Weiss entering the room until he was standing in front of him.

"Are you ready for this? Langley's general P.O.P. server just received an incoming email from SD-6."

Startled, Vaughn automatically pressed a few keyboard keys to make it seem like he was actually doing something other than daydreaming. But after a second the meaning of the words Eric had uttered sank in.

"From who?" he exclaimed.

Weiss paused and then deliberately enunciated the name for maximum shock value:

"Dixon."

Vaughn felt like his mind was playing tricks on him.

"Dixon? Why is Dixon sending them an email? He doesn't know them."

"He's calling the CIA for help. They forwarded this message to you," Eric explained, handing a piece of paper to his friend.

"I am Marcus Dixon, agent of SD-6. We are … we are under attack, help us!?" Vaughn read aloud in disbelief.

"What do you think is going on down there?"

Vaughn didn't answer Weiss. He just jumped up from his chair, practically ran to Devlin's office and barged in for the second time in as many months.

"Sir, we have a situation…"

"Vaughn…" Devlin began, extremely unhappy with Vaughn once again disregarding every code of conduct.

But Vaughn cut him off. Sydney could be in danger and he had sworn to himself that he'd protect her.

"I really think you should look at this. This message was routed to me."

His angry eyes didn't leave Vaughn until he had the paper in hand. Even after reading the message, Devlin's eyes held little expression of concern.

"Do we have any independent confirmation? Any local authorities reporting? Fire? Police?"

"No," answered Vaughn tersely, irritated by his superior's manner.

Devlin sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Let me guess. You want to send in an extraction team?"

Vaughn let that sardonic comment go unanswered.

"We have to do something!" he said vehemently.

"What if Sloane is bluffing again? We would be exposing Agent Bristow, the same way you almost exposed her in Tuscany. We might be compromising our whole operation."

Vaughn felt like he was going to explode. How could Devlin be so dense? Didn't he understand that the lives of dozens of people, amongst them one of their most precious assets, was at stake here?

"How would sending CIA into the SD-6 office be a good thing for him?" he asked, as politely as he possibly could.

"We wait for now."

"But sir…"

Devlin raised his hand to stop him and raised his voice in a commanding tone:

"We wait. Is that understood?"

There was no possibility to argue further than that. If he pressed too hard too soon, Vaughn sensed he would only screw up any chance he still had to make Devlin change his mind before it was too late.

Walking out of his boss' office, he knew what he had to do now. But first, he had to try and call Sydney.

XXX

Sydney was remaining as still as she could.

She was trapped in the air duct and she was trying to figure out a way of escaping. Cole and his men had heard her and she'd barely had time to get out of harm's way.

Should she surrender? If she did, would Marshall be able to save them all?

Just as she was mentally trying to answer that question, she felt a vibration at her belt: her cell phone was ringing. Curiously, she reached for it, but just as she was about to grab the phone, she heard noises coming from the air duct in front of her. Without wasting a second, she aimed her gun straight ahead, ready to defend her life until the end.

But instead of coming face to face with one of Cole's goons, she was stunned to see Marshall appear in front of her. He brought his index finger to his lips, urging her not to speak and gave a nervous smile.

She knew what he was going to do and her first thought was to stop him. But she knew full well that Marshall wasn't a field agent and that she, was the best chance her co-workers had of getting out of this unharmed.

So she gave Marshall an encouraging look as he shouted, for Cole's benefit:

"I'm… I'm coming! Don't hurt me, I'm not armed!"

"Well, well, who do we have here…" Sydney heard Cole say when Marshall appeared outside the air duct. "If it isn't the Nerdy Kid on the Block. Trying to play hero? The milk and cookies are going to be served later, son," Cole laughed mockingly before retaking his serious demeanour. "Put him with the other hostages. We have important work to do here."

Completely forgetting about the call she had just missed, Sydney silently made her way back to the surveillance room. That's where she immediately discovered the note left for her by Marshall.

In his note, Marshall had explained that he had hacked into the computer system and found the locations of the failsafe bombs. Luckily, there was a printer in the room and he had been able to print out a map of the building, on which he had indicated where the charges of C-4 were located.

Now she 'only' had to deactivate the bombs.

XXX

"Go back to Devlin's office and convince him," Weiss pleaded as he tried to follow Vaughn's brisk pace.

He was watching his friend prepare to make the most important mistake of his life and he just couldn't stand by, without trying to stop him. Determined to find out what was going on at SD-6, Vaughn had decided to check out the situation for himself, despite the fact that he was breeching protocol and putting his life in grave danger.

"There's no convincing Devlin," Vaughn replied conclusively.

"You can't go down there by yourself."

Vaughn stayed silent until they arrived in front of his locker a few seconds later.

"Look, I tried to call Sydney and she's not answering. Plus, I have a friend who's a cop. He went to the lobby. The guard told him the bank closed early," he explained, finally looking at Eric. His eyes expressed the uttermost anxiety and Weiss realised, it was the second occasion in a few months that he had seen that look on his friend's face. The other time being the day they had intercepted the assassination order on Sydney.

"And maybe it did."

"We would have known about it," stated Vaughn as he opened his locker.

"And what if there has been a takeover?"

Vaughn didn't answer and continued to rummage in his locker until Weiss put his hand on his arm. It had just dawned on him that his friend was about to put his life in jeopardy to save Sydney. Not Agent Bristow, not the operation, no. He was about to take an incredible risk to save the woman he LOVED.

"Mike, listen to me," he almost begged. Vaughn sighed and planted his eyes in his pal's. "I know… I think I just realised that… that you have deep feelings for Sydney. I respect that, Mike, but you have to remain professional. You have to think about what's best for you. For the CIA."

Weiss saw Vaughn's jaw clench and he knew his pleas were pointless. Vaughn took out his gun from his locker, shut the door and declared:

"If I'm not back in a couple of hours, I'm probably dead."

Without a second look, he walked away. Weiss, left by himself, could only whisper dejectedly:

"Good to know."

XXX

Vaughn had never driven that fast in the crowded L.A. streets. He could have gotten into many accidents, but he didn't care, his mind being solely focused on getting to Credit Dauphine in time.

When he finally arrived, he headed directly to the parking garage. At once, he noticed a suspicious white van. Walking straight to it, his gun firmly in hand, Vaughn saw there was a man in the driver seat.

"I'm a federal officer. Step out of the car, please. I'd like to ask you a few questions," he told the driver, a man of about 35 years old.

"No problem," the guy said with a Russian accent before opening the van's door obediently. But as he put his foot down on the concrete, he suddenly pulled out a gun. However, Vaughn was prepared and he was able to knock it out of his opponent's hand. They struggled for a moment, taking the advantage successively. But then the time came when Vaughn had no choice, if he wanted to preserve his own life and enter the building without the alarm being raised. He shot the intruder who dropped heavily to the ground.

Vaughn checked the man's vital signs. He was dead. The area now secured, Vaughn pulled out his cell phone. He dialled the CIA field office number and asked to speak with Director Devlin.

"Devlin," Vaughn's boss uttered impatiently.

Vaughn had a brief thought for the CIA pension he would probably never get, before announcing:

"Sir, confirmation you wanted… I got it. I'm at SD-6 right now."

"You're at SD-6?" Devlin spat, truly astonished at Vaughn's insubordination.

"Yes."

Devlin was seething.

"That's a massive breach of protocol. I specifically told you to wait!"

"Sir, the break-in is confirmed. I'll handle the consequences of my actions later. The team can get into the garage using a standard card splice," Vaughn said calmly.

"This can't keep happening, Agent Vaughn. Don't think you'll get out of this one easily."

"I understand."

"I'll send the team. In the meantime, get out of there."

Of course, Vaughn had other plans. There wasn't any time to lose. Who knew exactly what was going on in there? Every second could count.

From the parking garage, he found a door that led inside the building itself. Silently praying he wouldn't find something too horrible, he entered.

XXX

Checking her blueprint periodically, Sydney had been able to locate the first C-4 charge quite easily. But she had then run into an unexpected difficulty: the explosives were hidden behind steel plates that were bolted to the walls. Thinking quickly, she had found a fire extinguisher and had sprayed the bolts. When they were frozen, she had been able to break them without much trouble.

She had exposed the C-4 but at this point she had realised she would need a few tools if she wanted to succeed in her mission.

Now, after finally finding everything she needed, she was almost back to the room where the explosives were. She only had to go past this door and turn right, she was mentally saying to herself, when suddenly she heard the door handle turn. Quickly, she hid behind the door that opened slowly. Without wasting a second, she grabbed the intruder's hands and threw him brutally on the floor.

With her back on the wall, facing her opponent, she pointed her gun at him…

Vaughn. 'Her opponent' was Vaughn.

Was her mind playing tricks on her? It couldn't possibly be him. Nobody in his position would be crazy enough to come here.

"Sydney?"

That was his voice. Yes, Vaughn really was the one crouching in front of her, in his suit and tie, without even a bullet proof vest… only armed with a gun and his courage.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, still panting.

"Dixon contacted us. What the hell's going on?" he asked, lowering his gun as he stood up.

She couldn't believe her ears.

"Dixon contacted you?"

"Not directly. Through Langley. Said SD-6 was under attack. Are you okay?" he asked, concern lacing his voice.

A wave of gratitude for this man threatened to take the better part of her, but there was no time to get emotional. The bombs could explode at any moment.

Resuming her walking, Sydney explained:

"It's true. They have six, maybe seven. They've got the latest military specs. They're after something in the vault.

"I took out one in the garage," Vaughn said, watching her back as they progressed in the corridor.

"Russian accent?"

"Yeah. I'm thinking K-Directorate."

"I saw the man in charge. His name is McKenas Cole. Former SD-6. Now he works for a third party. For… The Man," she explained, before coming to a stop and giving him a knowing look.

"Oh, God," Vaughn sighed as their gazes met, "What do you think he's looking for exactly?"

"I don't know. But right now, what do you know about deactivating C-4?" 


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"There's got to be 200 pounds here. Damn. It's enough to level the building," Vaughn said, his dispirited eyes not leaving the bomb.

He and Sydney were standing in front of the biggest charge of C-4 they had ever seen.

"It's a failsafe. Sloane has three of these rigged to the vault," she explained as she fumbled in her tool bag.

"Three?"

Vaughn couldn't believe a situation this grim had just tripled.

"Door opens and they all blow."

"Maybe they shouldn't open that vault," he commented dryly.

Sydney matched his tone:

"They, being the six men with machine guns."

Vaughn sighed.

"How long before they hack the code?"

"Soon. Did you study bomb defusion at Langley?"

"Just seminar style. Nothing field specific," he answered, wishing he had paid more attention back then.

"Does anyone learn anything in seminars?"

Enough with the discouragement, Vaughn thought. There had to be a way to get out of this mess. They just had to find it.

"Okay. Let's just take this one step at a time. This is a charge of C-4. I can tell because it says C-4 everywhere."

Pointing her flashlight at the mechanism, Sydney went on:

"There are eight black and yellow wires and six red, gold and black ones. Which of these fourteen wires do we cut?"

"Maybe none. What are those prisms?"

"I don't know. But there might be more than one lead splice to the firing mechanism."

Vaughn had noticed something. He took the flashlight from Sydney's hands and redirected it to see better.

"That pin."

"Where?"

"There. In the back."

"What is that?"

"It's a crystal. That thing is a radio receiver. That's probably how opening the vault triggers the C-4," he asserted with a glimmer of hope in his voice.

Sydney was impressed with Vaughn's knowledge.

"So all we have to do is pull out the crystal?"

Without a word, Vaughn gave the flashlight back to Sydney while she handed him the pliers. He was only two inches away from the pin when she stopped him.

"Wait, no, it can't be this easy."

"What, you think there's a tamper alarm?"

"Or a secondary trigger."

Vaughn handed the tool he was holding to Sydney and took a breath freshener from his pocket. For a split second he felt kind of embarrassed because she would now know that he was carrying this in his pocket. Would she think he had bad breath? Would she guess he always had one with him in case he met with her? Pushing those petty thoughts away, he sprayed towards the mechanism, revealing a laser grid.

"Now we know what the prisms are for. Spray it again."

He obeyed.

"You know, I think I can pull out the crystal without touching the lasers," he said, taking back the pliers, his fingers brushing against Sydney's.

"You want me to do it? My hands are pretty steady."

"Well so are mine," he said. But their gazes met and while his instinct was to be the one protecting her, he knew full well that Sydney was a highly trained field agent who dealt with split second life or death decisions on a weekly basis. And he trusted her with his life.

He wordlessly handed her the pliers and with her eyes glued to the crystal, Sydney said:

"One more spray on three."

"One."

"Two."

"Three," Vaughn finished, simultaneously spraying. Sydney deftly grabbed the pin.

They sighed heavily, in relief.

"One down," Vaughn said before they grabbed their tools and stepped back out into the corridor.

Hastily, Sydney took out the map Marshall had given her and showed it to her handler.

"The other C-4 packages are here and here."

"All right. We'll split up and each take one."

"The explosives are hidden behind steel plates that are bolted to the walls."

"Which you opened by yourself," he stated disbelievingly.

Hiding a flattered smile, Sydney only shrugged. She liked that he was impressed with her field skills, but now wasn't the time to play cute. There was a job that needed to be done.

"There are fire extinguishers at regular G points. Find one. Use the CO2 to freeze the bolts. But go easy or you'll run out."

He looked at her admiringly. This woman was incredible.

That Danny she was seeing would never know what a gem of a woman he was lucky enough to have, he thought bitterly. Never would he know how smart, strong willed and courageous she was. At least, not in the same way he had the opportunity to. Maybe he, Michael Vaughn, was the only one to know the real Sydney Bristow, he suddenly realized. That thought comforted him.

He handed Sydney the spray.

"Here."

"I memorized the laser grid," she said matter-of-factly before tearing the map in half. "Your C-4 is located along this corridor. You cross through engineering sub level to electrical. It's far, so run."

He nodded and she continued:

"Also," she said, pointing on the blueprint, "here's the surveillance room. That's where we'll meet when we're done."

She took a step back, ready to go, but Vaughn put his hand on her bare arm to stop her. The contact of his strong hand on her skin caused her to freeze. Her heart beating faster than it had a moment before, she looked at him questioningly.

"Be careful," he said, his eyes clearly showing that he meant it.

Trying to deny the fact that his touch had had a certain effect her, she only answered:

"You too."

Her gun firmly in hand, she ran towards another bomb to be defused at her life's peril. Vaughn felt his breathing becoming slightly shallow. He had sort of become used of seeing her leave for missions; of knowing she was in danger… But now, being in the field with her, knowing exactly what was going on, what the present risks were… He was just incredibly scared for her. He had promised himself he would never let anything happen to her and he hated the fact that right now, he could do nothing to protect her.

Except for deactivating his C-4 charge. With one last look at her, he started to run in the opposite direction.

XXX

Sydney was running as fast and as silently as she could, praying that all of Cole's men were too busy with the hostages to be wandering around the SD-6 headquarters. As her feet were hitting the ground successively, her mind wandered to Vaughn. She still couldn't believe he was here with her. Not many handlers would have done the same, at least she knew Lambert wouldn't have, she joked to herself. Growing serious again, she wondered if Devlin had authorized Vaughn's presence in the Credit Dauphine building. Somehow, she suspected that Devlin would never have agreed to let him come here and put the CIA's operation at risk. Then what consequences could Vaughn be facing, if they made it out of here? She'd have to make sure he remained her handler, because more than ever, she knew she wouldn't be able to continue playing double agent without him. As the weeks had gone by, he had become more than a handler to her. She considered him a… How did she consider him exactly? As a friend, as someone she could lean on whenever she felt the need… But… was it more than that? She had never experienced this kind of connection with anyone before. Maybe extraordinary circumstances made for extraordinary bonds…

After running a few more seconds, Sydney turned a corner to the left. Her heart almost stopped when she came face to face with two intruders. Adrenaline kicked in and she was able to jolt the gun out of one of the men's hands before knocking him down.

She turned around to take care of her other opponent, but stopped dead when she heard a very unsettling sound by her temple.

The sound of a gun's safety catch being released.

XXX

Following Sydney's instructions, Vaughn quickly got rid of the steel plate that had been concealing the C-4 package. Then, after saying all the prayers he knew, he was able to pull out the crystal for the C-4 charge.

He exhaled loudly; so thankful he hadn't just caused an explosion that would have killed dozens of people. Devlin's fury would have been beyond the pale that time… But, well, that wouldn't have mattered because senior officer Vaughn would have been blown up to pieces as well. He smirked to himself and checked his map. His meeting point with Sydney, the surveillance room, was pretty far. Thinking it was a good thing he stayed in shape, Vaughn hurried in that direction.

He was first to arrive, which instantly caused him to worry. He seemed to remember that Sydney's C-4 was much closer to the surveillance room than his had been. Maybe she had had trouble with the bolts? Should he go and help her? He cursed when he realised he had no idea how to get to her.

Using the screens in front of him, Vaughn looked around, hoping he would catch sight of her somewhere.

And he did.

There she was, walking between two of Cole's men. Her hands were tied but she didn't seem to be hurt.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed. His whole body stiffened in anxiety. He should have stayed with her, that way they could have fought the men together… But there was no time to waste thinking about what they could have done differently. Had she had time to disarm the C-4? There was no way of knowing. He would now have to rely on the CIA team. He could do no more from the inside of the building: he decided to go back to the parking garage and wait for them.

XXX

"Get with the others," the man said as he pushed Sydney forward.

Slowly, rubbing her now free wrists, she walked towards her co-workers. She could see fear in many eyes and that caused her jaw to clench. No way would she let Cole get what he wanted, no way would she let him hurt those people she had gotten to know during the last 7 years. Most of them were patriots who had been fooled by Sloane. They didn't deserve to die, blown up to pieces by the C-4 bomb she hadn't been able to deactivate. Time was running out.

She had to do something.

Looking around herself, she saw Dixon, who gave her a comforting smile. A smile that was thanking her for her efforts and telling her that all hope wasn't lost. She returned his gaze, praying that Devlin would really send a team to assist Vaughn. She was afraid her handler would do something even bolder, surpassing all he had done that day…

From the corner of her eye, she noticed that someone was trying to get her attention.

Marshall.

Glad to see he appeared unharmed, Sydney tried to make sense of his movements. He seemed to be trying to draw her attention to an earring, that was lying on the floor next to her… Of course! A few days ago, he had shown her his new invention, an earring that was actually a flash bomb. Thanking God for creating Marshall Flinkman, Sydney discreetly picked up the device. None of this had been lost on Dixon, who made it clear that he was ready to act.

Knowing every second was precious, Sydney didn't waste any time and set off the bomb. Immediately, she and Dixon, followed by several other agents, joined their efforts to overpower their captors. The two men were taken care of without any casualties.

"Dixon! Try to find Sloane and get him to deactivate the failsafe! I'm going after Cole in the vault room!" she yelled to her partner as people were starting to evacuate the building.

"Okay, Syd, got it! Be careful!" she heard him say, but she was already running as fast as she could to stop McKenas Cole from making his final mistake.

XXX

Eric Weiss was sitting in the back of the CIA truck, talking on the phone, busy taking care of the last details of the imminent CIA operation at the SD-6 headquarters, when he got a call on the other line.

"Not now," he barked to his phone. "Frank, I got another line. Call me when it's done," he requested before checking the caller ID to see who was disrupting him. He almost dropped his phone in haste when he saw it was Vaughn.

"Talk to me."

"Where the hell are you?" Vaughn shouted, sounding desperate.

"We're on our way," Weiss said calmly, trying to reassure his friend.

But Vaughn was beside himself.

"The place is wired to blow. Three packages of C-4. We deactivated two. Sydney was supposed to deactivate the third. I don't know if she did," he said speedily.

"Okay. Can you get to it?"

"I don't know where it is. They've got everyone including Sydney. As soon as they open the vault the C-4 is going to go off."

"How soon is that?"

"Soon. Hurry up!" Vaughn said frantically.

There wasn't much for Weiss to say.

"Got it."

XXX*

Carefully, Sydney gazed into the vault room. Luckily, there was only Cole and one man, armed with an automatic weapon.

She couldn't take them both without risking losing Cole, so she decided to ruse. She took an extra ammo clip she had in her pocket and threw it towards the end of the corridor.

In the vault room, the two men heard the noise and exchanged a look.

"I'll check it out, boss," the man said.

Cole nodded before staring again at the sequence of numbers changing quickly on his screen. There was only one number left to find. Cole congratulated himself, unaware that the whole building would blow up, should he enter the combination into the vault keypad.

The guard stepped into the corridor. But unfortunately for him, Sydney was ready. She grabbed him from behind, her arm wrapped around his neck. She pressed just enough to cause him to lose consciousness and was about to put him down on the floor, when he dropped his gun.

Sydney swore under her breath and grabbed the weapon, certain Cole would have heard.

She was right. As she approached the vault room, she heard Cole ask what was going on. Of course she wasn't going to answer; she would have to hurry to catch him before he got too suspicious.

Cautiously, she entered the room, pointing her gun in the direction Cole had been. But he wasn't there.

Just as she realised that, she felt a sharp pain on her head. She collapsed, struggling to stay conscious. She then saw Cole running to the vault keypad with a satisfied grin on his face. He had found the combination. They would blow up in a second if Dixon hadn't succeeded in finding Sloane.

She opened her mouth to warn Cole and tried to get up, but it was too late. He punched the last number, and to Sydney's relief, the door opened without any explosion being triggered. Thanking Dixon inwardly, Sydney was finally able to get up on her feet, but it was too late to stop Cole. He had already found what he was looking for in the vault and was escaping.

As fast as she could given the hit she had just suffered, Sydney ran after him.

XXX

Vaughn was going crazy, exploring one crazy possibility after another to go and save the hostages himself, when the CIA team finally arrived.

"Mike! Are you okay?" Weiss asked.

"I'm fine. Let's not waste any more time!"

"Okay," agreed Weiss before giving the signal to prepare to enter the building. From the corner of his eye, he then saw Vaughn reload his gun.

"Mike, you're not thinking of going back in?" he questioned in surprise.

"Of course I am," Vaughn answered resolutely.

"You're not dressed for the job, man."

"It doesn't matter."

"Mike, at least put on a protective vest. I don't want to have to visit you in the hospital… or the morgue."

At this moment, they heard the sound of someone running towards them. All eyes and all weapons converged to the spot where a second later, a tall man appeared.

"Hey, it's Cole!" Vaughn exclaimed.

"Get him!" Sydney yelled as she entered the parking garage, running behind Cole.

But in the end she didn't need their help. Seeing the CIA agents materialize before him, Cole hesitated. That short pause was all Sydney needed to get him. She delivered what was without a doubt, one of her hardest punches and he dropped to the floor.

While Weiss and other CIA agents ran up to Cole, an impressed Vaughn walked up to Sydney and noticed the nasty bruise on the side of her head.

"Syd, you're hurt… Let me get you checked out," he said immediately, his forehead creased with worry lines.

"Vaughn, I'm okay. Really."

He didn't get the chance to argue as an agent walked up to them and gave him the object that had caused all this commotion.

"What is it?" Sydney asked, as she got closer to Vaughn.

He opened the protective case and discovered it was actually a small vial of liquid.

"What is that, perfume?" she joked.

"Whatever this is, we have it now and they don't, because of you," he said with admiration.

"Not just me."

He regarded her intently.

"Because of you."

Sydney felt herself blush and she looked away for a second to regain her composure.

"Then it better be good perfume."

But Vaughn was serious.

"I'm not kidding. Think about it. What you do. You're doing an amazing job."

Her eyes locked into his, she only said:

"We make a good team."

She was never going to let him win, he thought, grinning briefly.

"What's happening upstairs?"

"I think everything is taken care of. We got lucky," she replied.

"I've got to get my guys out of here. SD-6 will never know we were here."

He was about to turn away when Sydney put her hand on his arm. He stopped and their eyes met.

"Thanks for coming," she said, her eyes conveying how grateful she was that he had risked so much to help her.

Vaughn was so caught up in the moment that he didn't see Weiss walking up to them.

"Hey," Eric said to Sydney.

"Hey," she replied with a smile.

"We should go. Let's go," he reminded Vaughn.

"Okay," he told Eric before facing Sydney. "Bye."

"Bye," she said, watching them leave. With a sigh, she headed upstairs, knowing she needed to see Sloane to tell him her side of the story. But the good thing was that although the CIA was now in possession of the artefact, SD-6 believed that Cole's break-in was successful.

CIA: 1, SD-6: 0. 


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Later that day, Weiss and Vaughn were working on their reports on the events that had just taken place in the SD-6 building. Knowing that the only person who knew that he had helped Sydney deactivate the C-4 was Eric, Vaughn had a favour to ask from him.

"Eric?" he said as he sat down in front of his friend's desk.

Weiss clicked on the 'save' button and then looked at Vaughn.

"Yep?"

"You know… It would be better if Devlin didn't know that I went further than the SD-6 parking garage. Would you… not write that in your report? Please?"

Eric took a moment before answering and Vaughn was afraid he was going to turn him down.

"I'll keep it shut, man, but you have to promise me you'll stop being so irrational when it comes to Sydney," he said gravely.

Instantly Vaughn was on the defensive.

"Me, irrational?"

"Oh, Mike, come on! Don't make me spell it out for you!"

"I was only doing my job, Eric," he stated unconvincingly.

"You've been doing a lot more than that, my friend, and for quite a while I might add."

Vaughn was now getting irritated.

"What, you still think I've got a crush on her?"

"Not a crush, no," Weiss sighed, hating to be in the position he was in.

"Then what's the problem? I'm not-"

But Eric, tired of playing games, interrupted him.

"Mike, quit the pretending already. You love her."

Vaughn looked up at his friend, surprised, before avoiding his gaze. He didn't say anything, so Weiss continued:

"I know… I understand you can't do anything about it, but… try not to put yourself in too much trouble, okay? I was hoping to go to the 'Retired CIA Agents Club's' reunions with you, man," he joked in an effort to lighten up the atmosphere.

Vaughn sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. He then looked intently at his friend.

"You're right. I do. I love her. I don't know how that happened. But it did and now you can't imagine how scared I am for her… When she's in the field, I can't sleep. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to her…" he blurted out, relieved to finally be able to voice his thoughts and feelings.

Weiss leaned in towards his pal.

"Mike, it's okay, she'll be okay… She's an amazing agent, probably the best one SD-6 has. Plus, with you watching her back, she's got nothing to worry about."

A faint smile finally grew upon Vaughn's face. Eric went on:

"Does she know about this… about how you feel?"

Vaughn shook his head vehemently.

"No and she can't know. For obvious protocol and safety reasons. Plus she's got a boyfriend. So promise me you won't tell her about my… my feelings for her."

Weiss nodded.

"Got it."

"Eric, it's really important. Please, this time you have to stick to your word."

"What do you mean?"

"You told Sydney about my birthday."

Eric winced.

"I'm sorry, I…"

He wanted to explain but the way Vaughn looked at him made him stop. "Alright, I give you my word that she'll never hear about it from me. I promise on Donovan's head."

A smile flashed on Vaughn's lips.

"He's MY dog."

"Then I promise on a box of donuts."

"I'm reassured," he smirked, about to add some snarky comment when his cell phone began to ring.

"Vaughn," he answered. "Okay, thanks."

"What?" Weiss asked, seeing his friend's dejected expression.

"Devlin wants to see me."

"Ouch… Good luck, Mike."

Vaughn slowly got up. Was this day ever going to end?

"Thanks. I'll need it."

XXX

When Sydney finally got home after that difficult day, Danny's car was parked in her driveway. Did they have a date that night that she had forgot about? What was going on?

Perplexed, she entered the house. Danny and Francie were sitting in the living room, a drink in their hands.

"Danny, hi…"

His face lit up as soon as he saw her and a tentative smile formed on her face.

"Hi Syd," Francie greeted her. "I've got a phone call to make… I'll just go to my room. See you later, Danny," she said, throwing an overly satisfied smile in Sydney's direction.

Sydney had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at her friend. Would she ever stop? Wasn't the fact she and Danny were dating enough of a success story?

"Sydney…" Danny said as he motioned for her to sit down by his side. She obeyed and he kissed her sweetly. She tensed up, worried he might notice her bruise, even though she had had the presence of mind to conceal it before coming home. "Are you okay? You look tired."

"Yeah, I am. Just one of those days at the office…" she sighed.

"Listen… My last class was cancelled, so I came by, hoping you'd be free for dinner… Are you?"

Sydney tried her best to keep smiling. She SO didn't feel like being that woman tonight! What she had gone through that day was still fresh in her mind and she was having difficulty letting it go. She had trouble getting rid of the character she was playing to get back in her true self's skin. Go away, Sydney the spy, it was time to be Sydney the ordinary girl. She was surprised to see how hard it was lately, to go back to her true identity. But it would be nice to forget that part of her life and enjoy reality for a few hours… She had to try.

"I'm free."

"Great. It's still early; maybe we could take a bike ride to the park? It's a beautiful day," Danny said as he grinned widely. Sydney had to admit that his smile was contagious. Cycling under the sun, good food and a night in his embrace, could be just what she needed to feel better. She accepted Danny's offer.

"Let me change and I'm all yours," she said as she got up.

"All mine? Then pack your toothbrush. You're staying at my place tonight."

She just grinned and headed to her bedroom, happy to have such a person in her life; she could almost believe she wasn't really a spy when she was with him.

XXX

When Vaughn finally exited Devlin's office, Weiss wasn't at his desk. Usually Vaughn would have been only too grateful to avoid his friend's questions. But now that Eric knew about his feelings for Sydney, he was kind of bummed he couldn't vent about the punishment Devlin had just given him.

At first, Devlin had gone on and on about protocol, the roles and duties of a handler and up to that point Vaughn thought that it wouldn't go further than that. After all, Sydney had made it clear to his boss that she would only have him has her handler and she was too important to the CIA for them to risk losing her.

But after his long speech, Devlin looked at Vaughn with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. That's when he had ended up 'sentencing' him to a few sessions with Dr Judy Barnett, the CIA's psychologist.

Devlin's exact words were: "You'll meet with Dr Barnett until she decides otherwise. She'll try to understand why you completely dismiss higher authority whenever your asset is in danger of being compromised."

Did Devlin suspect anything? Would Vaughn be able to fool Barnett if she ever questioned him about his feelings for Sydney? This was getting harder and harder on him. As if he wasn't stressed enough about keeping his love for Sydney hidden from her, now he would have to face a shrink? How on earth would he do that?

But failure wasn't an option. He needed to be near Sydney like others needed to breathe. He would have to find a way to fool Barnett.

XXX

Sydney and Danny were now at the park, sitting on the grass, chatting about everything and nothing. But while she was telling him about the numerous books she would have to read for her classes in the coming weeks, Sydney noticed Danny seemed preoccupied.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently.

Danny exhaled, a smile playing on his lips.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think it was that obvious."

For a split second, Sydney wondered if he was going to break-up with her. Had he had enough of her frequent absences? But almost immediately she realised that he wouldn't have asked her to stay the night at his place if he was going to end their relationship right now. No, there had to be something else on his mind.

"What's going on?"

Danny smiled and took her hand in hers.

"It's nothing, really. I just… I just wanted to ask you something and… well I'm just afraid you might say no."

"What do you want to ask me?" she said, unable to hide a tweak of apprehension.

Danny sighed and, still smiling, he waved as to express how meaningless his concerns were.

"I'm being ridiculous. It's not that big of a deal. Well, it kind of is, but… I just wanted to know if you'd agree to come with me to England for Christmas. I'd like you to meet my parents."

Sydney was kind of taken by surprise. Yes, she had figured they would spend Christmas Eve together, but she hadn't realised it would be so… official. Flying your girlfriend to another country so she could meet your parents was a big deal… She knew Danny was serious about her, and she was sincerely attached to him too. Meeting his parents seemed like a big step, although Sydney put that down to the fact the trip would be more significant because they were so far away, and her own realisation that she'd simply never given a lot of thought to her and Danny's long term future. But of course she was going to go and meet his family.

With a happy smile, she nodded and said:

"It'll be my pleasure to accompany you, Danny." 


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

"Hey, Syd," Dixon greeted her as she sat down by his side in the conference room.

She smiled in return.

"Hi…"

"So, have you made any plans for Christmas? Are you going to meet Danny's family?"

"Yes. We're flying to England on the 23rd. His parents still live there."

"Well, that's great, Syd. I'm glad you've found yourself a good man. You guys seem serious," he said, genuinely happy for her.

"Yeah," she could only answer. She was a bit nervous about meeting Danny's parents. It seemed like such a huge step for them… But it was a good way to go, she supposed. After all, she cared a lot for him and he felt the same towards her, so it was only natural that things might get to this point.

Watching Sloane who had just entered the room, Sydney noticed he had already taken the bandage off his right index finger; she cringed internally. Following her gaze, Dixon whispered:

"Looks like he's recovering well, huh?" he said in reference to the finger he had had to cut the week before. He was proud of his boss.

Luckily, Sydney didn't get the chance to say anything. Sloane began the briefing.

"As you now know, on the same day last week, that saw SD-6 taken over by McKenas Cole and his men, our rival agency, FTL, suffered a similar attack. The leader of the FTL was even executed in broad daylight with witnesses," Sloane added, and Sydney couldn't stop herself from wishing the same fate could have befallen him too.

"This proves just how powerful the Man's organisation has become. We must stop him," he stated solemnly, before appending further:

"SD-2 has learned that the Man's group has a secret meeting planned with K-Directorate in the coming days. Sydney, Dixon you are going to Las Vegas. You'll plant a listening device on a K-Directorate agent, Viktor Kovalev. We believe he knows where this meeting is to take place. We need that information."

XXX

It had been a week since Sydney and Vaughn had met, the last time they had seen each other being when they had retrieved the ampoule from Cole, inside the SD-6 parking garage. They were at the warehouse, sitting on crates, and Sydney was going over the events that had transpired after the CIA had left the building.

"So Dixon attempted to rescue Sloane, as he was the only one who could override the failsafe procedure. But it would have taken too long to free him, so Dixon had to cut off Sloane's index finger to stop the bomb just before detonation."

"Ewww," Vaughn winced.

"Yeah. But sadly they were able to reattach it. He doesn't even wear a bandage anymore," she deplored.

Vaughn laughed.

"What, you wish Sloane terrible things?"

"Does that make me a bad person?" she smirked.

He shook his head, amused.

"No, not at all…" He paused. "Is your head better? The bruise doesn't really show," he added, thinking how he preferred when HE was the one being hit.

"I've been wearing like, a pound of make up all week. I can't believe that neither Francie or Danny noticed."

There was a silence during which Vaughn pondered over the fact that she was still with Danny. After a moment Sydney asked, now sombre:

"So, what were the repercussions for you?"

"For me?"

"I mean with Devlin."

He grimaced.

"I got a long, boring speech about protocol and he wrote me in for quite a few sessions with our shrink. He hopes some self enlightenment will help me resist the urge to fight his decisions when my asset is in danger," he said, immediately regretting his last sentence. What if she realised he did that because he loved her? Before she could say anything, he added:

"But if he hadn't been so scared of you, I'm afraid he would have sent me to Timbuktu," he chuckled.

But she remained serious.

"Vaughn… What you did, coming to SD-6… I really appreciate it. It was…" she let her voice trail off as she looked at him intensely. "It was very courageous of you, but it's not your job. You could have been caught, or injured, or worse… What if Sloane had seen you? He knows who you are, remember? I don't want-" she stopped a second to keep her voice from shaking, but he didn't let her continue. He put both his hands on her shoulders and his eyes searched hers.

"Sydney, I've told you before. I'm your ally, no matter what," he stated, meaning what he had just said with all his being. His eyes briefly drifted down to her full lips and Vaughn willed himself not to lean forward and kiss her. He released her shoulders and added hastily:

"I'll do whatever I have to, to help you bring them down. Everything turned out just fine. We even got the Rambaldi ampoule."

She was beginning to realise that this man might be even more determined than she was. There was no point in trying to change his mind, so she just nodded. She was quiet for a moment and then asked:

"So, you know it was Rambaldi's?"

"Our specialists looked at it and they were able to identify it. They don't know what's in it yet though. Cole isn't being very cooperative. Maybe he doesn't even know exactly what he stole."

"Has he said anything helpful? I mean… about Khasinau?"

"Not yet," he said, his eyes showing how much he would have wanted to give her another answer.

Hiding her disappointment, Sydney crossed her arms on her chest and said:

"Sloane hasn't told us either, what this ampoule is. He just said it was a Rambaldi artefact. He is deeply distressed over its theft, by the way. That's why he's going to war against The Man. Like I wrote to you earlier, he's sending Dixon and I to Las Vegas to plant a listening device on a K-Directorate agent, who is believed to know where an upcoming meeting between his boss and the Man is going to take place. Sloane hopes it is about the ampoule."

"From what you told me about the device, we've been able to find the frequency it uses. We'll be listening, too."

"Okay. So… I'll see you when I return."

He nodded.

"Good luck in Las Vegas. Don't spend too much money at the Casino," he said, smiling widely.

"Got it," she replied as she started walking away. But then she added:

"Good luck with your shrink."

Vaughn faked a grin and she left.

XXX 

The Las Vegas mission had been a success.

Sydney was in her SUV, on her way to meet Vaughn for yet another countermission. The last few days had been very busy and now was the first moment she had had to reflect on them.

Firstly, the mission had proven a bit tricky. Dixon had been impersonating a Jamaican diplomat, so he could enter into a card game with the K-Directorate agent they had to plant the listening device on. While they played poker, Sydney was watching Dixon through a surveillance camera to help him win, so he could place the device.

But the problem had been one they couldn't possibly have foreseen. During the card game, casino security received information that the real diplomat had been detained at the airport. Consequently, Dixon's cover was blown and it took the two agents' best skills, to get themselves out of that mess and still succeed in their mission.

Upon their arrival back in Los Angeles, SD-6 had already gotten the information they wanted through the listening device. The meeting between the Man's group and K-Directorate was scheduled to happen in a few days, on December 22, in Moscow. Of course, Sydney and Dixon had been instructed that they were going to be the ones leaving for Russia.

For once, Sydney had been able to plan in advance before a trip. She had realised that she wouldn't be back in time to take the flight to England with Danny. Apprehensive about his reaction, Sydney had told him as gently as she could that she wouldn't be by his side on Christmas Eve.

Danny, although disappointed, had told her he understood. His job was very time consuming too, so he could comprehend the position she was in. Sydney was very relieved and grateful that she had such an understanding boyfriend. But since she really wanted to meet his family, she had already booked a later flight: scheduled to leave very, very early on Christmas morning.

At this point in her thoughts, Sydney arrived at Griffith Park where her meeting with Vaughn was to take place. She stopped her SUV and smiled when she noticed a black car a bit further. It was probably Vaughn's.

XXX

Vaughn had been in bed for two hours, but he was still wide awake. He couldn't stop thinking about Sydney. He had seen her earlier today at Griffith Park to give her the countermission. And at this moment, she was on a plane heading to Moscow.

This handler/asset relationship was becoming more and more problematic. When he set up a meet with her, he always found himself focusing more on the fact that he was going to be with her for a few minutes, than on the countermission or the debrief itself.

When he wasn't with her, all he could do was think about her and wonder how it would feel to hold her, kiss her. Not a quick kiss like the one in Slovakia, back when they didn't know each other. No, a real kiss, full of love and passion. Picturing her in his arms, here, in his bed; he felt his temperature rise as he hugged the pillow, imagining it could be her for a second.

She was such a permanent fixture in his thoughts he had even bought her a Christmas gift.

Today, after their meeting in Griffith Park, he had ventured into a store, thinking he needed to find a gift for his mother. And that's when he saw it, the perfect gift for Sydney. He knew he shouldn't, especially after scheduling his first session with Dr Barnett for the day after tomorrow, but still couldn't resist. He wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, but he liked the idea that there could be a reminder of him in her house. If only he could find the guts to give it to her.

Tossing and turning in his bed, Vaughn was trying to decide what to do. How would she react if he gave it to her? Endlessly, he played out the different scenarios and all the ways she might react and what he'd say in his head. Giving her this gift could be a good thing or an awful mistake and the thought of this moment when he would hand her the package both excited and tormented him at the same time. What exactly were his expectations? He knew full well that revealing his true feelings to Sydney was out of the question. Even if she ended up sharing his sentiments, it was too dangerous to even consider being together. Never would he put Sydney's life in danger for such a reason. But Christmas was a fairly widely recognized holiday. What was the harm in observing it with a co-worker? There was nothing inappropriate in that, it totally fell within the guidelines of agent and handler, he thought.

He was scared as hell, but he was going to do it.

XXX 

Sydney was in a very precarious position.

Hanging between earth and sky, twenty hours after meeting Vaughn, she found herself clinging onto a nylon rope whilst maintaining an interested eye on the meeting, taking place inside the building. Through the window, Sydney could see and even hear, thanks to a high-tech laser microphone Marshall had provided her with. In the room was a table. On one side of it she saw two men that she could identify as the number one and two of K-Directorate. In front of them were three people: a young blond man who had introduced himself as 'Mr. Sark', a guard and one other person. Sydney could only see the feet of this person sitting in the back. They seemed relatively smaller, suggesting women's feet and promptly triggering Sydney's curiosity. Could it be her mother?

Through the laser mic, Sydney heard Mr. Sark make an offer to buy a Rambaldi artefact in K-Directorate's possession; but his offer was declined. Without hesitation, Sark gestured to the guard who instantly shot and killed the K-Directorate leader, before pointing his gun at the unfortunate man's second in command.

"I'm going to make the same offer to you," she heard Sark say to the scared man. Wanting to live, the new K-directorate leader accepted the offer and Sark gave him the briefcase filled with money that had been lying on the table. The meeting was brought to an end.

But there was no way Sydney would let this golden opportunity pass her by. She had to get a look at the mysterious woman. Moving slowly, trying to see further into the room, Sydney suddenly lost her footing outside the window, which caused a stone to fall on another guard below. The guard looked up and noticed Sydney. He immediately opened fire on her with his machine gun. In a split second, as she tried to avoid being hit, she saw the woman looking straight at her. There was no way she was Irina Derevko.

She suddenly felt a sharp pain on the arm. There was no time to lose if she wanted to get out of this alive. With great difficulty, she began pulling herself up to the roof while the guard was still shooting at her. She was starting to think she wouldn't make it, when she heard someone else firing a few bullets. The guard's machine gun fell on the pavement.

Dixon had just saved her.


End file.
